Duel Academia Psychosis
by The Azure Guardian
Summary: A strange turn of events sends a Psychic Duelist from Neo Domino City into the past to enter Duel Academia with Yuki Judai and his friends. Just who sent him there and why? Rated M for suggestive themes. canceled
1. Turn 1

**A/N: Hey everyone, AzureKite4 here! Or I guess I should start saying Psycho Duelist due to my recent name change. First of all, yes. This _is_ another Yu-Gi-Oh! GX rewrite fic from me. The reason for it is I have decided to cancel my Duel Academia Legends story indefinitely (meaning I _may_ decide to continue it) due to an argument I had with the creator of Sumoi Hideko (if none of you know who I'm talking about, she's an OC for my Duel Academia Legends story that a friend of mine requested). And since Hideko had a rather large role in the following chapter for Duel Academia Legends, I just told her I'd stop working on it until she calmed down (or until I calm down. or until I finally decide I want to continue it). This time around though, this fanfic will be a slight crossover story between Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. The reason I say slight is because they're both from the same overall series (Yu-Gi-Oh!) and doesn't really count as a crossover (especially considering the 10th Anniversay movie in which Fudo Yusei goes back in time to meet Yuki Judai and Mutou Yugi). I hope all of you reading will enjoy this story and to all of you who were following through my Duel Academia Legends story, I hope you enjoy this one as much as you did the other.**

**P.S.: Just like with Duel Academia Legends, this will be using the Japanese version of GX with subtitled episodes provided by GymLeaderLance99 of YouTube. He's currently finished seasons 1 and 3 and working on season 2 at the moment (yeah, I don't know why he skipped season 2 until now) and he will also be working on subtitles for season 4 eventually. I'll also be using the translated Japanese names for cards as often as I can.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Yu-Gi-Oh! series or its characters! I DO, however, own my OC, Ikeda Takeo!**

**

* * *

-Turn 1-**

It was just another normal day in Neo Domino City, the streets crowded with people and both children and adults alike dueling each other in open areas away from the crowds. One person, a young man with light-green hair in a wolfcut style, wearing red pants, blue runners and a white t-shirt with light-green spiral designs on the shoulders and back as well as light-green wavy lines on the sides and across his chest, was walking through the crowds, letting the various sounds drown out his thoughts as he carried a travel bag over his shoulder and a deck holder placed at his waist, his eyes closed. But even with his eyes closed, he knew where to walk, as what most people didn't know was that this young man was a Psycho Duelist, able to use the powers of his mind to do various things, including bringing Duel Monster cards to life and, to a small degree, see into the future. But due to the telekinetic ability of foresight, the boy, even being a duelist, did not duel much as his mind would tell him the best and quickest way to win. However, in an instant, all the noise completely stopped. Noticing this, the young man stopped walking and opened his eyes, revealing them to be the same light-green color as his hair and shirt designs though appeared dulled as though he were constantly bored, which widened a little at what he saw. Everything but himself was frozen in place and their colors faded, making everything appear black and white.

"What's going on here?" the boy asked himself, though his voice didn't give any hint of concern, until a small, transparent blue blob with yellow eyes and a purple mouth appeared next to him and started squeaking, earning his attention. "You think something's wrong too, don't you."

Before the blob creature could reply, a cracking sound could be heard by both of them, prompting them to look forward only to see what looked like a crack in thin air with white light pouring through it. The boy took a bracing stance as he pulled off his travel bag, not letting it go, and reached into it, pulling out a Duel Disk with the same light-green wave designs as his shirt before attaching it to his wrist, causing the board part to eject out before slinging the bag over his shoulder again. The crack slowly grew bigger, the light becoming brighter. The boy reached for his deck holder when the crack spread to the ground, to which the crack appeared to rip itself open, a vacuum of air pulling the boy into the hole.

"Wh-what the!" the boy questioned as the blue blob that was next to him disappeared before the boy was completely pulled into the hole, causing it to close up behind him.

Time then began to flow normally again, everyone acting as if nothing happened, but also as if the boy never existed.

* * *

Inside the rip, the young man could only see white all around him.

"Where am I? What is this place?" the boy asked himself, again not appearing as concerned as he should be, but then he spotted a shadow dash past him. "Hey! Wait a second!"

But the shadow was already out of earshot for the boy's words to have reached him. Though the boy suddenly felt his travel bag being tugged at.

"What the?" the boy wondered as he turned his head around to see another shadow, only for it to dash past him after the first shadow, almost like it was chasing the first one. "What's going on here!"

The light steadily grew brighter and brighter, prompting the boy to cover his eyes before the light blinded him.

* * *

"-keo. -da Takeo. Ikeda Takeo!" the young man, Ikeda Takeo, heard someone call his name, prompting him to slowly open his eyes.

When he could see, Takeo noticed he was standing outside of a building in front of a pair of tables. Sitting behind the tables were two girls wearing some kind of yellow uniform and standing next to them was a man wearing what appeared to be a business suit and a pair of black sunglasses.

"Number 103, Ikeda Takeo. If you do not enter the building now you will not be permitted into the Duel Academia this year," said the man, his words confusing Takeo.

"Duel Academia? But I never signed up for-" Takeo started, but a rustling sound from nearby caught his attention was well as the attention of the girls and the man.

"Wait up!" they heard a voice shout from some nearby bushes, only to see a pair of hands shoot up and grab the railing before pulling up the rest of the body, revealing a young man with brown hair wearing a red shirt under a black jacket along with black pants. "Examinee Number 110: Yuki Judai! I'm safe, right?"

The boy gave the victory sign with his fingers as a wide grin appeared across his face, the two girls and the man looking at Judai curiously.

'_Where the _hell_ am I?_' Takeo shouted in his head.

The man in the suit turned to the girls, to which they both started flipping through papers until one of them looked back at the man and nodded.

"Hurry up and go inside Numbers 103 and 110," the man said.

"Woo-hoo!" Judai cheered as he vaulted himself over the railing and walked up to Takeo. "So you're taking the exam, too? Glad to meet you, I'm Yuki Judai."

Takeo was just dumbfounded and didn't answer.

"Not a big talker? Oh well. Let's get going!" Judai cheered as he grabbed Takeo's arm and pulled him along through the doors.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Takeo argued as he was led inside of the nearby building.

* * *

Once the two were inside the building, Judai managed to spot a duel on the arena floor and unknowingly ran next to a short boy with light-blue hair and wearing glasses.

"Oh! They're at it! They're at it!" Judai cheered, to which Takeo casually walked up next to him to get a better look at the field.

* * *

On the arena floor, there was only one current duel. On one side was a student with black hair styled back and wearing a white uniform. His Life Points were at 3200 and on his field was a _Blood Vorse_ in Attack mode (4/1900/1200) and a reversed card. On the other side of the field was a man wearing a purple uniform with a strange pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, his Life Points at 1900 with a _Gear Golem The Moving Fortress_ in Defense mode (4/800/2200) and a _Big Shield Gardna_ in Defense mode (4/100/2600).

"No matter how well-capable you may be, in the face of my Super Defense Deck, you can no longer reduce my Life Points," stated the man in the purple suit, but the student didn't seem fazed.

"I activate the Trap card, _Destruction Wheel_!" the student announced as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk, revealing a card with the image of a metal collar with grenades attached to it, needless to say shocking his opponent. "This Trap card destroys a face-up monster on the field, and then both sides take damage equal to its ATK."

The collar in the Trap card's image then appeared on his _Blood Vorse_ monster, detonating seconds later, killing the _Blood Vorse_ instantly and reducing the Life of both duelists by 1900, leaving the student with 1300 while his opponent had reached zero, ending the duel as the man's two monsters faded from the field.

"The examination duel is over. Congratulations. You've won," the purple-suited man stated, not even fazed that he lost the duel.

"Thank you very much," the student said with a bow.

* * *

"Misawa Daichi, Examinee Number 1, is pretty good, isn't he?" said a student wearing glasses and a blue uniform lined with white.

"It was worth coming all this way to see him after hearing the rumors, wasn't it, Manjoume-san?" said a boy with brown, spiked up hair and also wearing a blue blazer-like uniform.

"Nonsense. These entry exam duel are just set at a low level," said the student sitting between the two with blacked spiked hair, apparently Manjoume. "Coming out of the academy for this was such a waste. The Duel Academia doesn't need two kings, only one."

* * *

"Number 1's combo was amazing, huh?" Judai asked aloud.

"Of course it was. That's Daichi Misawa-kun, Examinee Number 1, or in other words, first place in the written test," answered the blue-haired boy.

"Oh, so that's what your Examinee Number means, huh?" Judai wondered.

'_I don't even know where I am, but how the hell could I score as low at 103?_' Takeo thought to himself.

"You pass depending on your grades on the written portion and the details of your duel. Even though I managed to win my duel, I'm not sure if they'll accept me, being that I'm Examinee Number 119 and all…" the blue-haired boy stated.

"Don't sweat it!" Judai said as he lightly slapped the shorter boy's back before pointing his thumb at himself. "If you're lucky enough, you'll pass! I'm Number 110, after all! And Takeo-kun here is Number 103!"

"Don't call me Takeo-kun. Just Takeo," Takeo said angrily, not liking honorifics being used at the end of his name.

"You're examinees too?" the shorter boy asked.

"Sure are," Judai answered while Takeo kept quiet.

"But the duels for the 100s already ended with the very first group," the short boy stated, shocking Judai.

'_So this whole thing is pointless then. Why _am_ I even here?_' Takeo asked himself before remembering the place of white light and the two shadowy figures he had spotted. '_Could those two have something to do with my being here? If I find them again, I'll make sure to get some answers._'

* * *

Near the front row of the arena, several faculty staff of Duel Academia were talking about the recent match.

"We don't even need to deliberate on Misawa-kun. I think it's settled," said a dueling proctor.

"Mm-hmm. He's the last of them," said another as someone wearing a black suit walked up to a faculty member with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and wearing a rather frilly uniform, of which could easily be mistaken for a woman.

"I beg your pardon," the person in the suit addressed the blonde faculty member. "There are two more examinees that made it to registration at the last minute…"

"What were they ranked on the written test?" asked the faculty member.

"Examinee Numbers 103 and 110," the man answered.

"Hardly any sense of readiness if they're coming in at the last minute, no?" the blonde questioned with an Italian accent. "We have no need for dropout boys in our academy-no ne."

"However, they did make it on time, to a point, so they _do_ qualify for the exam," said one of the proctors.

"And there was a train accident, so I'm certain it's to blame…" said and older proctor.

"Not letting them take it might not be such a good idea, don't you think?" asked a third proctor, to which the blonde faculty member slammed his hands on the table.

"_Non problema-lema! Non! Non! Non!_" the faculty member shouted, but was soon interrupted by his cell phone ringing, to which he reached into his pocket and answered it. "Yes? Who may I ask is speaking? Oh, it's you, Mr. Pricipal!"

On the other end of the line was the principal of Duel Academia, Samejima.

"I heard that there are two examinees that made it in time for the test at the last minute, possibly due to a train accident," Samejima said, shocking the blonde faculty member. "They may have done poorly on their written exam, but don't deprive them of their chance. Our school's objective is to garner a wide range of talents to train them into well-rounded duelists, after all."

Samejima had then hung up his phone, to which the blonde faculty member did as well.

"Such sharp ears… You sly old dog…" the blonde muttered to himself. '_The Duel Academia is an academy for the Dueling Elite! Perché! Why is Principal Samejima backing those dropout boys?_'

The blonde then looked at the proctors that sat around him before pointing at one of them.

"You! You will duel Number 103. I will be dueling Number 110," the faculty member ordered.

"Y-Yes, sir! Just allow me to grab an examination deck…" the proctor said.

"No need! Use your normal deck," the faculty member instructed.

"But, Professor Chronos, if we do that then there's a large chance they won't be accepted!" one of the other proctors complained.

"Well that's what we're here for, no? If they can't win then they don't deserve to enter the Duel Academia!" the blonde faculty member, Professor Chronos, stated. '_And I want to make sure those dropout boys don't get that chance._'

"So which of us will duel first?" asked the proctor Chronos had selected.

"You will. I wish to see what Number 103 is capable of before dueling Number 110," Chronos answered.

"Sir!" the proctor stood and saluted the professor before grabbing his own deck and a Duel Disk before running towards one of the arenas.

* * *

Back in the stands, Misawa Daichi had taken a seat near Takeo, Judai and the short blue-haired kid and took off his Duel Disk.

"You're one tough customer," Judai said, a grin on his face.

"I guess," Misawa said non-chalantly.

"It was decent, but nothing special," Takeo said, causing the three near him to look at him.

"_Examinee Number 103: Ikeda Takeo-kun…_' a woman's voice said over the PA system, to which Takeo growled slightly at the use of an honorific to his name.

"Looks like you're up," Judai said as he lightly slapped Takeo in the back.

Takeo merely glanced at Judai before steadily walking down the stairs, to which Judai finally noticed the Duel Disk attached to Takeo's wrist.

"Hey, that's an odd-looking Duel Disk," Judai pointed out.

"Huh? What do you mean?" the blue-haired boy asked.

"I think he means the one Takeo is using," Misawa answered as he pointed to Takeo's Duel Disk, which looked nothing like the one he had nor like the one his exam proctor used, but instead the board part looked a little wavy as light-green wave patterns decorated the disk and a light-green spiral design rested at the center.

"Maybe it's custom-made," Judai guessed.

* * *

On the arena floor, Takeo was lifted to his dueling field and stood across from his opponent.

"I will be your opponent for this entrance duel. If you cannot beat me, then you will not be granted entrance and must try again next year," the proctor declared.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with," Takeo said as the board part of his Duel Disk shot out, as with his opponents' and they both shuffled their decks before sliding them into the disks.

"Duel!" the proctor shouted while Takeo said it in a rather bored tone.

Takeo: 4000

Proctor: 4000

"I'll give you the first move," the proctor said while drawing his first five cards.

"Fine," Takeo said dully as he drew his six cards, but didn't even look through them before he started playing. "I summon _Krebons_ in Defense mode."

As Takeo played is card, a monster wearing some strange purple clothes and appearing like a court jester materialized onto the field. His face resembled some kind of online emoticon. (2/1200/400)

"Kekekeke…" the monster cackled, but both the monster and the play surprised everyone in the stadium.

* * *

"What is that monster? I've never seen it before. Why is it in Defense mode when its ATK is higher?" were some of the thing muttered by the spectators, but Judai's eyes were filled with excitement.

"Whoa. A new monster! Cool!" Judai exclaimed.

* * *

"I'll set two reversed cards," Takeo said as two cards appeared facedown on the field behind _Krebons_. "Turn end."

Takeo's hand: 3

"My turn. Draw!" the proctor said as he pulled his sixth card. "I don't know about that strange monster of yours, but it won't last against me! I summon _Troop Commander_ in Attack mode!"

As the proctor played his card, a man with short blonde hair, carrying two longswords and wearing armor and a cape appeared on the field. (3/1200/400)

"When _Troop Commander _is Normal Summoned, I'm able to Special-Summon a Level-4 or lower monster from my hand," the proctor explained, but Takeo didn't seem to be paying attention. "I summon _Retrained Elf Swordsman_ in Attack mode!"

As the proctor played his next card, an elven swordsman appeared wearing light armor and a cape while wielding a longsword. (4/1400/1200)

"_Troop Commander_, attack his monster!" the proctor declared as the armored man charged forwards with his swords ready to slash.

"I activate _Krebons_' Monster Effect. By paying 800 Life Points the attack is negated," Takeo said dully as a yellow barrier formed around _Krebons_, forcing _Troop Commander_ back upon striking it.

Takeo: 3200

Proctor: 4000

'_He can probably only do that once per turn though,_' the proctor thought to himself. "_Retrained Elf Swordsman_, destroy his monster!"

This time the elf warrior charged ahead, ready to swing his sword.

"I activate _Krebons_' Monster Effect once more," Takeo said as the barrier reappeared, repelling the attack from the warrior.

Takeo: 2400

Proctor: 4000

"Turn end," the proctor stated, not seeing anything else he can do.

Proctor's hand: 4

"My turn. Draw," Takeo said in a bored tone as he drew his next card. "This duel is over."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" the proctor asked, though everyone in the spectators seats were wondering the same thing, since Takeo already took 1600 damage by using his own effects and the proctor still had all 4000 Life Points.

"Since I control at least one Psychic-type monster on my field, I can Normal Summon _Armored Psychicker_ without a sacrifice," Takeo stated as he played the card.

The monster that appeared wore some kind of green and purple armor with thick wires and tubes attached to it, though its effect and appearance shocked nearly everyone in the stadium, the only exception being Judai. (6/2200/1800)

"Heh. Too bad for you. _Retrained Elf Swordsman_ can't be killed by monsters with 1900 or more ATK," the proctor explained. "Plus, as long as _Troop Commander_ is on the field, you can't select any other Warrior monster as an attack target."

"I'm not done my turn yet," Takeo said, shutting up the proctor as _Krebons_ began to glow white before launching into the air and turning into two stars, which flew in circles and turned into some kind of green discs while _Armored Psychicker_ jumped up towards the discs, his color fading and leaving him with gold outlines while six stars appeared in his now transparent body. "Telepathic waves, deceiving my foes. Mental scarring, ruin their minds."

As Takeo chanted, _Armored Psychicker_'s body completely vanished as the stars lined up between the two discs.

"Complete and total domination of the mind," Takeo continued as a burst of light shot through the discs and enveloped the stars before expanding and engulfing the discs. "Synchro Summon! _Mental Sphere Demon_!"

When the light faded, both of Takeo's monsters were gone. In their place was a large, green, demonic monster. Its body looked like it was mildly armored with bones as its claws were a golden color, its wings and tail also having the same gold color. The demonic beast let out a mighty bellow. (8/2700/2300) Everyone in the stadium was in shock and awe at this new form of summoning.

* * *

'_Cards and types that no one has ever heard of and an unknown way to summon a powerful monster? There's no doubt about it. This guy is cheating,_' a girl with crystal-blue eyes and long, golden-blonde hair that stopped halfway down her back, wearing a uniform consisting of a blue miniskirt and a white sleeveless top lined with blue thought to herself.

* * *

"Wh-what the!" the proctor questioned as Takeo's demon hovered down to the field.

"This is one of my most powerful monsters. _Mental Sphere Demon_," Takeo answered, to which his monster bellowed again. "But as I said, I'm not done yet. Reverse card, open! _Battle Teleportation_!"

One of the two facedown cards rose, the image showing the _Krebons_ monster Takeo had earlier releasing a torrent of electricity as a duelist tried to defend himself.

"This card can only be activated while I have one Psychic-type monster on my field. It allows that very monster to attack my opponent directly, but at the end of my Battle Phase my monster goes to your side of the field," Takeo explained, confusing the proctor since, even though he'd take 2700 direct damage, he'd be obtaining Takeo's only monster. "_Mental Sphere Demon_, attack with **Mental Shock!**"

In an instant, the demon vanished from Takeo's field and appeared in front of the duel proctor before releasing an invisible force of energy, making the proctor brace himself before the demon returned to Takeo's field.

Takeo: 2400

Proctor: 1300

"But now I get your monster," the proctor smirked after regaining his composure.

"You're wrong. I told you this duel was over and I meant it," Takeo said as he pulled a card from his hand. "From my hand, I activate the Instant Magic card, _Emergency Teleport_!"

As Takeo played the card, the image showed a yellow mechanical monster jumping out of a portal.

"This card allows me to Special-Summon a Level-3 or lower Psychic-type monster from my hand or Deck, but that monster is removed from play at the end of my turn," Takeo explained as he pulled another card from his hand. "And I special-summon my _Mental Master_ in Attack mode."

As Takeo played his card, the monster that appeared looked like a brain in a floating jar with mechanical hands. (1/100/200)

"And what do you plan on doing with that?" the proctor asked.

"This. Reverse card, open!" Takeo said as his second facedown card rose, the image showing three monsters, an orange one up front, a grey one in the middle and a blue one in behind. "_Urgent Tuning_! This card can only be activated during my Battle Phase and allows me to perform a Synchro Summon if I have the proper cards on my field. So I'll tune my Level-8 _Mental Sphere Demon_ with my Level-1 _Mental Master_!"

Like with _Krebons_ and _Armored Psychicker_, _Mental Master_ started to glow before launching himself into the air, this time turning into just one star that circled around to form a single green disc. _Mental Sphere Demon_ then flew up, its color vanishing and leaving only the gold outline as eight stars appeared in his body. The outlining then disappeared as the eight stars lined up inside the disc.

"Telepathic waves, deceiving my foes. Bring me stength, and with strength, victory," Takeo chanted as a burst of light shot through the disc, engulfing the stars and soon the disc itself. "Synchro Summon! _Hyper Psycho Gunner_!"

The next monster to appear from the light wore what looked like a set of advanced heavy body armor with no sign of flesh anywhere. Held in each hand was a strange type of gun, a black one in his right hand and a white in his left. (9/3000/2500) This time everyone in the stadium was shocked, even Judai, as Takeo managed to summon a monster as powerful as Kaiba's own _Blue-Eyes White Dragon_. Takeo's duel proctor took an involuntary step back at the new armored monster.

"And since it's still my Battle Phase, my monster is able to attack," Takeo explained, causing the proctor's eyes to widen. "_Hyper Psycho Gunner_, attack _Troop Commander_ with **Psycho Shots!**"

The armored monster raised both its arms and steadily aimed at the armored Warrior before firing a shot from his left gun, which stunned the monster, before firing from the right gun, the shot piercing through the monster and striking the proctor, knocking him on his back as _Troop Commander_ exploded.

Takeo: 2400 (Winner)

Proctor: 0

'_Hm, maybe I shouldn't have used so much force,_' Takeo thought to himself as _Hyper Psycho Gunner_ and _Retrained Elf Swordsman_ disappeared from the field, but the proctor remained on his back.

Seeing the proctor not getting up, a medical team arrived on the field as Takeo made his leave and headed back to the stands.

* * *

The stadium was silent after Takeo declared his final attack. It was executed almost perfectly and ended without the proctor summoning anything higher than Level-4 while Takeo himself had called out a Level-9 monster. Even Professor Chronos was in shock at such a display of power.

'_H-He's a dropout boy?_' Chronos thought to himself, his eyes bugging out, but then he remembered his duel was up next. '_I just hope that other one isn't as good._'

* * *

As Takeo made his way back up to where Judai, Misawa and the blue-haired kid, everyone nearby was giving him strange looks.

"That was amazing!" Judai complemented, to which Takeo just quickly glanced up at him.

"That was nothing," Takeo corrected as he took an empty seat across from Misawa.

"You called those monsters of yours _Psychic-types_, correct? I've never heard of them before," Misawa said.

"Me neither," to which the blue-haired boy added.

'_They don't know about Psychic-type monsters? But they've been around for years, unless…_' Takeo thought to himself as a possible explanation came to his head. '_That tear took me back in time!_ _Shit. If I had known that then I would've just walked away. Now the future's probably screwed up._'

"You were really good, Takeo. You may be the second-strongest out of this year's examinees," Judai said, earning the attention of Misawa and the blue-haired boy while Takeo gave him a strange look.

'_Second-strongest? Let's just see what lays in store for you,_' Takeo thought to himself as he closed his eyes and focused, but no matter how hard he focused, nothing came to his head, causing his eyes to shoot open. '_N-No way! I can't read his future? But that's never happened before._'

"_Examinee Number 110: Yuki Judai-kun…_" the woman over the PA system called.

"All right, then. I'm up," Judai said, getting himself pumped up as he made his way down the stairs.

"Hey, you," Misawa called to Judai, causing the brunette boy to turn his attention to the white-uniformed student. "If Takeo's Number 2, then who's Number 1?"

"That would be me," Judai said, pointing his thumb at himself. "And that would make you Number 3."

"He only scored nine higher than me on the written exam, so why is he so confident?" the blue-haired boy asked as Judai walked down towards the arena floor.

'_I'm wondering that very same thing. So then, Judai… show me why I can't read your future,_' Takeo thought to himself as he leaned forward in his seat, his attention on the arena floor along with everyone else.

* * *

As Judai was lifted to the dueling field, two girls in yellow uniforms were attaching a strange-looking Duel Disk onto Professor Chronos. The girls walked away once Judai's platform stopped.

"Buon giorno!" Chronos greeted himself.

"Yuki Judai, sir!" Judai introduced himself as he stood at attention.

"Signore Judai, I am Chronos de Medici, acting Chief General Director of Practical Application at the academy," Chronos introduced himself.

"What an honor. To think that the Director of Practical Application would challenge _me_!" Judai said, getting a little excited before rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sure that means you're expecting a lot out of me!"

'_I'm struck speechless,_' Professor Chronos thought to himself as a sweatdrop appeared on his head.

* * *

In the stands, just about everyone was surprised by Judai's opponent.

"Who'd think Professor Chronos would deal with this personally?" said the glasses-wearing student that sat next to Manjoume.

"That Judai fellow must be pretty big, huh?" wondered the brown-haired student that sat on the opposite side of Manjoume.

'_I can't believe this!_' Manjoume mentally growled, wondering why Judai was getting special treatment.

* * *

"Duel Coat, on!" Chronos said as he swiped his hand over his deck holder, which was attached to his chest, thus turning it on.

"That thing is really awesome!" Judai complemented as Chronos lifted the board half and drew his first five cards while Judai did the same. "Sensei, can I buy one of those coats too?"

"All of the high-achieving students have one," Chronos answered. '_Not that it would concern a dropout boy like you. It never will._'

"All right, then. I'll do my best!" Judai shouted, feeling pumped up and thinking Chronos was trying to help him.

"Duel!"

Chronos: 4000

Judai: 4000

"My turn!" Judai announced as he drew his sixth card and scanned his hand, a grin on his face. "All right. I summon _Elemental Hero Featherman_ in Defense mode!"

As Judai played his card, a man covered in green fur with wings on his back appeared and kneeled down. (3/1000/1000) An amused look appeared on Chronos' face.

"Next, I'll set a card face-down on the field," Judai said as a reversed card appeared behind _Featherman_. "My turn's finished!"

Judai's hand: 4

* * *

"_Elemental Hero_ cards? Why's he using something so outdated?" Takeo asked himself.

"What was that?" the blue-haired boy asked, wondering what Takeo had said.

"It's nothing," Takeo quickly answered. '_If these guys find out I'm from the future, then it might just make things worse._'

* * *

"It is my turn," Chronos said as his Duel Coat ejected a card into his hand before the Professor scanned the cards he had. '_A _Hero Deck_, is it? I suppose you could say he's some kind of small town hero, then._' "Allow me to teach you just how broad the world is! From my hand, I activate the Magic card, _Confiscation_!"

The image on the card showed an armored man with a treasure chest in his arms walking away while a woman had her arms around his leg as if to stop him from leaving with the chest.

"What? _Confiscation_?" Judai asked, wondering if he heard right.

"By paying 1000 Life Points, I can look at my opponent's hand, pick one card from it, and discard it to the Cemetery," Chronos explained as the cards in Judai's hand began to glow while holographic version of them floated in front of Professor Chronos. "Sure enough, a dropout boy's deck, I see."

Chronos: 3000

Judai: 4000

'_Is he scolding the deck I put my life into?_' Judai mentally asked himself while gritting his teeth.

"I'll send _Resurrection Of The Dead_ to the Cemetery!" Chronos decided while pointing to the card, which turned around to reveal a green glowing ankh before shattering while Judai put the respective card into the Cemetery slot. "Then, I'll place two cards face-down on the field."

As Chronos slid the two cards into his Duel Disk, two reversed cards appeared in front of him.

"Next, I activate the Magic card, _Heavy Storm_, from my hand! This card will destroy all Magic and Trap cards on the entire field!" Chronos explained as a gust of wind picked up around him and quickly turned into a hurricane before spinning across the field, taking out both of Proffesor Chronos' cards as well as Judai's facedown card, _Drain Shield_.

"But sensei, your cards got mixed into it, too!" Judai chuckled, thinking Chronos had botched up.

"That's what they call "being a frog in a well." Ribbit, ribbit!" Chronos taunted as the entire field slowly turned dark.

"What's this?" Judai wondered.

"I special-summon… the _Evil God Tokens_!" Chronos announced as two gold, snake-like creatures rose up from the darkness. (4/1000/1000) x2

* * *

Several of the spectators were in awe at Chronos' move.

"I don't have a clue as to what happened…" the blue-haired boy said.

'_That Chronos… Could he be trying to summon… No, he's one short. If he had even one of those three, Judai wouldn't stand a chance,_' Takeo thought to himself, thinking Professor Chronos was trying to summon one of the three _Evil God_ cards.

"_Golden Statue Of The Evil God_ is a special Trap that creates Tokens when it is destroyed," Misawa explained to the blue-haired boy. "Professor Chronos destroyed his own _Golden Statues_ to utilize its effect."

* * *

"That's no entry exam deck! It's Chronos's own Dark Ages Deck!" pointed out the glasses-wearing student that sat beside Manjoume.

"He established his combo and simultaneously quartered off Number 110's Trap!" exclaimed the brown-haired student.

"For there to be an examinee that stands a chance against that deck…"

"Is wishful thinking, right?" the brown-haired student finished. '_Then again, that Number 103 with the weird cards might be able to stand a small chance against it._'

"I thought that examinee was something special, but I was sorely mistaken," Manjoume mused. "Professor Chronos plans on giving that dropout boy's fleeting dreams a thorough stomping on."

* * *

"I feel sorry for him. It appears Chronos doesn't fancy him," said a girl with dirty-blonde hair and matching eyes as she stood at the very top of the spectator's area, looking over the railing.

The girl wore a white sleeveless top lined with blue along with a blue miniskirt.

"This should be worth seeing," said a young man that stood next to her with dark blue hair, wearing a white blazer lined with blue and dark-colored pants, his words catching the attention of the girl next to him. "The Dark Ages Deck… Thanks to Number 110 here, we might have the honor of seeing its legendary rare card."

* * *

"My turn is not over as of yet!" Chronos stated.

"Sounds fun! What're you going to show me this time, sensei?" Judai asked, wanted Chronos to bring his best.

"Next, I sacrifice both my _Evil God Tokens_…" Chronos said calmly, waving off Judai's burst of enthusiasm as his two Tokens suddenly combusted into flames and started to burn before fading away. "… to summon _Antique Gear Golem_!"

All of the spectators, minus Takeo, were surprised at by the card being played.

* * *

"That's his… legendary rare card…!" the dirty-blonde haired girl gasped as the young man standing next to her only stared wide-eyed at the move.

* * *

On the field, a mass of mechanical parts and gears slowly rose up, putting themselves together to form a hulking mechanized monster with a single red eye. (8/3000/3000)

"Awesome! The rumors told me about this thing," Judai said, feeling eager to battle such a powerful monster.

* * *

Everyone in the stands was still in awe, even more so at the stats of Chronos' monster.

"An eight-star monster just out of the blue like that!" the blue-haired boy standing behind Misawa shouted, unable to believe the circumstances.

'_This may have been why I didn't see anything. Judai will lose and never reach Duel Academia,_' Takeo thought to himself as he sat back in his seat.

* * *

"Chronos de Medici has yet to lose once he's summoned that card. I wouldn't have pegged that examinee to have the power to make the Professor take this seriously," said the young man with dark blue hair.

"Professor Chronos _is_ rather fickle, you know," said the blonde girl standing next to him. "It's a shame. I caught the sound of the Academia's iron doors closing shut."

* * *

"Here I go! **Ultimate Pound!**" Chronos commanded, to which his giant machine's red eye began to glow, its gears spinning as it pulled back its right arm before thrusting it forward, right at Judai's monster and stricking it, destroying _Featherman_ instantly.

* * *

"_Antique Gear Golem_'s ATK is 3000, while _Featherman_'s DEF is only 1000! It didn't stand a chance!" the blue-haired boy shook his head disbelievingly.

"And that's not the half of it," Misawa said, earning the boy's attention. "When that monster attacks a monster in Defense mode, and its ATK is higher than that card's DEF, its effect deals that difference as damage to the opponent."

"N-No way… Then, that monster defies the rules, doesn't it!" the blue-haired boy questioned.

_

* * *

Antique Gear Golem_'s fist flew straight at Judai, fading through him, but not without taking some of his Life Points.

Chronos: 3000

Judai: 2000

"Already lost your fighting spirit, have you?" Chronos laughed.

However, Judai just started to laugh at the situation.

"I'm really touched… that the General Directing Professor is dueling his hardest against me!" Judai said, pumping himself up more.

'_What? Just how mistaken is he?_' Chronos thought to himself, shocked by Judai's rising enthusiasm. '_I never intended on letting a dropout boy like you go through the gates of the prestigious Duel Academia!_'

Chronos's hand: 1

'_This is where my true power'll get put to the test!_' Judai thought to himself as he moved his hand towards his deck.

"_Kuri kuri kuri!_" a voice called out.

'_Who's that calling me?_' Judai thought to himself, as if knowing that voice was calling to him specifically, to which he drew the top card from the deck revealing a familiar card to him. '_It's you from earlier… It couldn't be…_'

**

* * *

[Flashback Start]**

_Judai had bumped into someone wearing black clothes with dark spiky hair on his way to the stadium for his exam and the person held a card out to him._

"_This is a lucky card. Do your best," the person offered before handing the card to Judai and walking off._

**[Flashback End]**

* * *

The wings on the card's monster started to glow, but it was uncertain if Judai noticed it.

'_I see, then. You're _Winged Kuriboh_?_' Judai mentally asked the card after reading the name on the card before scanning its Effect and ATK and DEF stats.

"_Kuri kuri!_" the winged furball winked at Judai, to which he thought he was seeing things before checking his hand.

'_All right. I'll trust in you,_' Judai answered mentally. "From my hand, I summon _Winged Kuriboh_ in Defense mode!"

As Judai played his card, the winged hairball of a monster materialized on the field. (1/300/200)

"Then, I set a card face-down to end my turn!" Judai announced as a reversed card appeared behind _Winged Kuriboh_.

Judai's hand: 2

* * *

Takeo saw Judai's move and leaned forward in his seat.

'_What the? If he's doing what I think he's doing… he's going to _win_? But how? His future's _blank_!_' Takeo shouted in his head until he came to a different conclusion. '_Or maybe… it's just that his future _can't_ be read! Interesting… I've never run into anyone like this before. Maybe I will stick around, just to see what happens._'

* * *

"A feathered _Kuriboh_… You have quite a rare card there, don't you? However, it is just a low-level monster, is it not?" Chronos asked tauntingly. "You may have played it in Defense mode, but it will not stave off _Antique Gear Golem_'s piercing effect! I supposed a smallfry monster befits a smallfry! My turn, is it not?"

Chronos moved his hand towards his Duel Coat's deck slot, to which it ejected a card to his hand.

"This is the end. _Antique Gear Golem_, use Ultimate Pound on _Winged Kuriboh_!" Chronos declared, to which his monster through its fist at the furball and destroyed it instantly while Judai braced himself from the impact of the attack.

'_Forgive me, _Winged Kuriboh_,_' Judai mentally requested after his monster was destroyed, but Chronos was confused about the battle.

"Why aren't your Life Points decreasing?" Chronos asked.

"On the turn that _Winged Kuriboh_'s destroyed, any damage I take becomes zero," Judai explained, shocking Professor Chronos.

* * *

"Who'd think that there's a card Chronos doesn't know about?" wondered the girl with dirty-blonde hair.

"There are some places that not even the Professor can reach. The Dueling World is boundless," stated the young man that stood next to her.

"And that's why it's so interesting," the girl laughed a little.

* * *

"So, that was your smallfry monster's special ability, was it?" Chronos asked coldly as Judai put _Winged Kuriboh_ into the Cemetery.

"You'll pay for calling a friend who put his life on the line to protect me a "smallfry"!" Judai retorted.

"Such a smart-alec! Is there a problem with me calling your throw-away monster a "smallfry"?" Chronos taunted.

"There is. _Winged Kuriboh_'s shriek is the signal that'll call the monsters in my deck out into action! Trap car, activate! _Hero Signal_!" Judai exclaimed as his reversed card rose, showing a spotlight with a strange-looking H symbol, to which the card shot the very same spotlight towards the ceiling while Chronos looked up in shock. "From my deck, I special-summon my second _Elemental Hero_, _Burstlady_!"

As Judai pulled the card from his deck and played it, a giant ball of fire erupted onto the field before fading away to reveal a female monster wearing a red get-up and a gold helmet, her hair black with the tips as white as ash. (3/1200/800)

Chronos's hand: 2

"My turn!" Judai said, pulling his next card and looking at it. "_Winged Kuriboh_, I've got a tight hold on all of your encouragement. Just watch me! And then, _Featherman_'s going to use his unyielding fighting spirit to come back from the dead! I use the Magic card, _Warrior's Return_, to bring him back from the Cemetery and into my hand, and then summon him!"

As Judai played his card, the Cemetery slot ejected _Featherman_, to which Judai played it onto the field. (3/1000/1000)

"What good will your fragile little comic book heroes do you? They are nothing more than Normal monsters!" Chronos continued to mock.

"_Featherman_ and _Burstlady_… Normal monsters with low ATK are just their temporary forms. You'll be surprised once you see their true form, sensei," Judai said as he pulled another card from his hand. "I activate the Magic card, _Fusion_!"

As Judai played his next card, a shocked expression appeared on Chronos's face while _Featherman_ and _Burstlady_ jumped into the air.

"This'll fuse _Featherman_ and _Burstlady_!" Judai announced as his two monsters slowly faded, soon to be replaced by a single monster. "Fusion-summon! My favorite card, _Elemental Hero Flame Wingman_!"

The new monster was green and black skin with a red dragon head for a right arm and a red dragon's tail protruding from his back, a single white wing of the left side of his back. (6/2100/1200) Everyone was shocked at Judai's move as his new monster stared down Chronos's giant machine.

* * *

"Cool!" cheered the blue-haired boy.

"_Flame Wingman_ can only be summoned through a fusion-summon. It can deal damage to the opposing player equal to the ATK of the opposing monster is destroys by battle," Misawa explained.

"But even so, _Flame Wingman_'s ATK is 2100, falling short of _Antique Gear Golem_'s ATK," the blue-haired boy pointed out.

"But if that last card is what I think it is, this duel's over," Takeo said, staring intently at the duel field.

* * *

"Allow me to give you a special lecture. Listen up. Your useless tripe is useless in a duel! Make sure to keep that in mind," Chronos said. "You may have fusion-summoned it, but its ATK is 2100. It comes well short of my _Antique Gear Golem_!" '_Though for a moment I thought he was going to do a weird summoning like that Number 103 student._'

"Then, I'm going to teach you something, sensei. _Heroes_ have a battle arena fit just for _Heroes_! The Field Magic, _Skyscraper_!" Judai announced as his Duel Disk opened its Field Magic slot, to which Judai played the card.

The field started to shift as skyscrapers and other tall buildings shot up from the ground, over-looking everything with the exception of _Antique Gear Golem_. At the very top of the tallest skyscraper stood _Flame Wingman_, the light of the moon silhouetting his body.

"Okay, the stage is set! Go, _Flame Wingman_! Attack _Antique Gear Golem_!" Judai commanded, to which the Fusion monster jumped off the building and glided down towards the giant machine monster.

"_Scherzi_! You must be joking! _Flame Wingman_'s ATK doesn't hold a candle to _Antique Gear Golem_!" Chronos pointed out as _Flame Wingman_ landed in front of the _Gear Golem_ before jumping straight up into the air.

"A _Hero_ always wins! _Skyscraper_'s effect is that, should a _Hero_ fight against a monster with an ATK higher than its own, will increase its ATK by 1000 points!" Judai explained, clenching his fist in victory.

"O, Dio!"

"Take this! **Skyscraper Shoot!**" Judai commanded as his monster's ATK rose. (6/2100-3100/1200)

While in the air, _Flame Wingman_ spun around and dove down at the hulking machine while bursting into flames. Once close enough, _Flame Wingman_ used his dragon head to cut downward on _Gear Golem_'s body, resulting in an explosion while everyone watching widened their eyes in surprise at Judai's victory.

Chronos: 2900

Judai: 2000

"Mamma mia! My _Antique Gear Golem_…!" Chronos cried out as pieces of his monster fell, one of the pieces even landing on his head while _Flame Wingman_ returned to Judai's side of the field.

"_Flame Wingman_'s effect makes you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's ATK, sensei," Judai explained while giving a salute to his opponent.

"What…!" Chronos questioned before the creaking of his monster caught his attention, to which the Professor started running back and forth, hoping it wouldn't fall on him. "N-No, no, no, no! No!"

Unfortunately, the damaged machine couldn't hold itself up and toppled over Chronos, burying him under machine parts.

Chronos: 0

Judai: 2000 (Winner)

Judai then stretched out his arm and pointed two fingers at his fallen opponent.

"Gotcha! That sure was a fun duel, sensei!" Judai saluted as the monsters vanished and the field returned to normal.

"How? How was I beaten by that dropout boy…?" Chronos asked himself.

* * *

"I can't believe Professor Chronos was beaten by an examinee…!" Manjoume seethed, his eyes widened in shock.

* * *

"He's pretty interesting, isn't he?" the dirty-blonde haired girl asked her companion, only to notice him turn and leave.

* * *

"Well, at least he has an excuse for that win," the girl with golden-blonde hair muttered to herself before glancing over to where Takeo sat. '_But there's no doubt in my mind that _he_ cheated._'

* * *

"Way to go, Number 110!" cheered the short blue-haired boy.

'_You might turn out to be a fine rival, Number 1-kun…_' Misawa thought to himself.

'_Yuki Judai, huh? He seems to cut through the future like a blade. Maybe it would be a good idea to stick around to see what happens,_' Takeo thought to himself before an image of the two shadows he encountered earlier entered his head. '_And maybe I can find some way to get those two to come to me so I can get my answers._'

* * *

"Yay! I won! I did it!" Judai shouted happily while dancing in place before pulling out the _Winged Kuriboh_ card. "I'll be counting on you from now on, Partner."

"_Kuri kuri!_" the furball's voice cooed while the image winked, though whether Judai noticed it this second time or not is unclear.

* * *

**A/N: And that's it for this chapter, folks! I hope you all like my idea behind this story with the whole time-travel thing and Takeo using Psychics. I know it started a time paradox as soon as he used them, but he already said the future's screwed up anyway due to him being there.**

**Next time: Takeo, along with Judai, Misawa and the blue-haired boy who introduces himself as Marufuji Sho, reach Duel Academia and have their dorm rooms assigned. However, Judai is challenged to a duel that could result in expulsion. Meanwhile, Takeo is accused of cheating in his entrance exam and is forced into a duel to determine whether or not he stays. Can they defeat their opponents? Stay tuned to find out!  
**

**Please R&R, everyone!**


	2. Turn 2

**A/N: Hey everyone, Psycho Duelist here! Sorry about this chapter taking so long, but I've been busy these past few weeks. And guess what? I'm now 21 years old! Woot! (birthday is September 1st) Okay, not exactly anything to get excited about since I just see birthdays as nothing more than another day now (plus I had to work an 8-hour shift on my birthday which suuuuuuuucked). Anyway, in this chapter we get to meet a new OC of mine. We saw a glimpse of her in the previous chapter as she assumed Takeo was cheating. She'll use a rather interesting deck with a very interesting ace card which you'll be seeing later. Now then, let's get this story rolling!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. I DO, however, own both of my OCs Ikeda Takeo and introducing Sakamoto Hikari!**

**

* * *

-Turn 2-**

Three days had passed since the Duel Academia entrance exams ended and while all the other accepted students went home to pack what they needed, Takeo had stayed elsewhere provided by the faculty of Duel Academia after explaining he had nowhere to stay and carried all he had. Now the accepted students were being taken to Duel Academia via helicopter. On the helicopter, Takeo met up with Judai, Misawa and the short blue-haired boy who introduced himself as Marufuji Sho. The four of them took their seats along with the other students, and when they neared the island, everyone was looking out the window to get a good look of where they'd be staying for the next three years. Well, everyone except for Takeo and Judai, as the brunette boy fell asleep in his seat and Takeo just sat back and started to think.

'_So if I'm right and I really did end up in the past, I'll have to try my best to not screw things up. Unfortunately, I don't know how far back I've gone or what events originally took place here,_' Takeo thought to himself.

After the helicopter landed, everyone was lead towards the main building, where they all received bags containing their uniforms before being taken to changing rooms to put on their new clothes. For Takeo, all he had gotten was a red blazer. But then again, all the guys only got blazers colored in either red, yellow or blue.

'_So this must be one of the very first Duel Academia's since in my timeline the guys wore blue and the girls wore red. But I wonder what the yellow color means,_' Takeo thought to himself as he put his red blazer on over his shirt, leaving it undone and revealing his t-shirt.

After all the students got changed, they walked out of the changing rooms and were lead into a large room fit for a university before being taken down to the front row and standing in front of a large TV. Takeo took a look around at the other students.

'_About an even number of males wear red, yellow and blue, but no females in red. Maybe the reds are male-only while yellow and blue are co-ed,_' Takeo guessed in his head before the TV turned on, revealing a balding middle-aged man wearing a dark-red blazer.

"Welcome, Dueling Elites. You all used your skills to open the narrow admission gates. Please have fun studying in hopes of becoming the future Duel King," the man said before the screen turned off.

'_Future Duel King? That must mean I'm around the time of the first Duel King's reign. I've got to be really careful then,_' Takeo thought to himself.

The students were then led out of the room and handed Personal Planners as well as Academia-issued Duel Disks. Takeo, however, refused to use any Duel Disk other than his own, so the staff had to work on the Psycho Duelist's Disk to be integrated into the school's system. After everything was done, Takeo met Judai and Sho sitting on one of the small statues.

"The dorms we'll be living in from now on are split into three," Judai mused as he read through his Personal Planner. "Oh, Osiris Red is my dorm."

'_Osiris? But that's one of the _Sangenshin_,_' Takeo mentally noted as an image of the giant red dragon-like creature appeared in his head. '_This definitely has to be one of the first Duel Academia's if they have dorms named after those three cards._'

"Ah, I'm Red too," Sho said before looking up and seeing Takeo. "Oh, Takeo-sa- I mean, Takeo, what dorm are you in?"

"Osiris Red," Takeo answered flatly as Misawa walked up to them.

"Hey, Number 3, are you Red too?" Judai asked, referring to Misawa as Number 3 since the entrance exams.

"Nope, I can tell from my uniform. I'm a Ra Yellow," Misawa answered.

"Oh, so that's what your uniform color means?" Judai wondered as he looked at the red sleeve of his blazer.

"Why are you and Takeo in Red though? That's peculiar," Misawa said, apparently impressed with their dueling skills at the exams.

"Hmm? That's putting it somewhat vaguely…" Judai pouted, seemingly insulted.

"He's not trying to insult us," Takeo told Judai.

"Well, don't let it bother you. I'll be on my way, now, Number 1-_kun_," Misawa said as he started to walk away.

"Well, _you_ just better do your best, and try not to let things get you down!" Judai laughed.

"Ah, that's right…" Misawa said as he stopped and turned around, having remembered something before pointing near the beach. "Your dorms are over there."

* * *

As the three new Osiris students arrived at their dorm, Sho was the first to speak up.

"What is _this_?" the blue-haired student asked, wondering why their dorm looked more like a giant storage shed. "Is the Osiris Red dorm the only dorm that sucks?"

"Oh, yeah? This place has a great view, and it's got appeal!" Judai said as he looked out towards the sea.

"Let's just hurry up and find our rooms," Takeo said as he walked past the two before they followed him, all three of them stopping in front of one door. "Why are you two standing behind me?"

"Huh? But this is our room," Judai stated as Takeo let out a quiet sigh.

"I'm going to have to speak to whoever's in charge," Takeo said.

"Huh? Why's that?" Sho asked.

"Because I prefer to room alone. But until I get things straightened out it looks like I'll be staying with you guys a while," Takeo answered.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go in!" Judai shouted enthusiastically as he pushed the door open before the three of them walked in. "Well, it's surprisingly small, but there's enough room to live on, and that suits me just fine."

Inside the room was a triple bunk in one corner, a desk right across from it, and a mini kitchen in a corner near the door.

"With us living together, we must be linked together by fate or something!" Sho said, getting a little giddy.

'_That's it, I'm out of here,_' Takeo said as he put his bag down and walked out the door while Sho started going on and on about him and Judai possibly being linked by fate or some nonsense. "Might as well have a look around the place if I'm going to be here a while."

* * *

Takeo walked away from the Osiris Red dorm and started to wander around the island until the welcoming party. However, once Takeo arrived at the beach…

"Hey, you there!" a female's voice called out, to which Takeo stood still as he heard footsteps in the sand approaching him. "I was wondering when I'd find you. You're the one who used unknown cards to cheat in your entrance exam."

Takeo slowly turned around to get a look at his accuser. She wore an Obelisk blue uniform, consisting of a blue miniskirt and a white sleeveless shirt lined with blue. Her hair was golden blonde in color and stopped halfway down her back and her eyes were a shade of blue that made them look like crystals.

"You think I cheated?" Takeo said, rather than ask. "And who, may I ask, is making that accusation?"

"My name is Sakamoto Hikari. And I watched your entrance exam duel. I know those cards were cheats," the female, Hikari, answered.

"Well no shit you were watching. Everyone there was watching. And if you think I cheated with my cards, what exactly do you think you can do about it?" Takeo asked, but while in the conversation he was attempting to read Hikari's mind. '_Strange. It's hard to read her. Not like Judai though, but close._'

"As president of the Duel Academia Student Council, I hereby challenge you to a duel! If I win, you must leave the island," Hikari declared as she pulled out her Duel Academia-issued Duel Disk and strapped it to her wrist.

"President of the Student Council?" Takeo repeated. "How in the hell did a first-year like you get that rank when the school year hasn't even started yet?"

"I've worked around the Academia for a while before taking my Middle School exam. That's all you need to know right now, so hurry up and let's duel!" Hikari said.

"Fine, fine," Takeo waved off as his Duel Disk activated along with Hikari's.

"Duel!" both duelists declared while drawing their first five cards.

Hikari: 4000

Takeo: 4000

"I'll take the first move. Draw!" Hikari announced as she pulled her sixth card and scanned her hand. "I'll summon _Shine Angel_ in Attack mode!"

As Hikari played her card, a man with short blonde hair and two pairs of giant gold wings appeared. He also wore what looked like robes of ancient Greece. (4/1400/800)

"Turn end," Hikari said.

Hikari's hand: 5

"That's all? My turn then. Draw!" Takeo said, pulling his sixth card, but not even scanning his hand. "I summon _Psycho Commander_ in Attack mode!"

As Takeo played his card, a strange-looking man wearing a green military uniform while in some kind of advanced, hovering tank appeared as the man raised his right arm in a salute. (3/1400/800)

"What do you plan to do with that? Its ATK is the same as my _Angel_'s. They'll destroy each other," Hikari stated.

"That's what you think. Battle! _Psycho Commander_, attack _Shine Angel_ with **Telekinetic Cannon!**" Takeo declared as the cannon on the tank started to charge. "Now I activate my _Commander_'s Monster effect! When a Psychic-Type monster I control battles with another monster, I can pay Life Points in increments of 100, to a maximum of 500, to lower the ATK of my opponents' monster by the same amount I paid for. And I'll pay the full 500."

Hikari's eyes widened in surprise as the orbs floating around the _Psycho Commander_ and his tank started to glow before releasing a surge of energy at _Shine Angel_, weakening it. (1400-900/800) The _Commander_ then fired his tank's cannon immediately after, destroying the Angel-Type monster.

Hikari: 3500

Takeo: 3500

"When _Shine Angel_ is destroyed by battle, I can special-summon a Light-Attribute monster from my Deck with 1500 or less ATK!" Hikari announced as she pulled out her deck and searched through it. "And I choose a second _Shine Angel_!"

As Hikari played her card, the gold-winged angelic monster reappeared while Hikari shuffled her deck and pushed it back into her Duel Disk. (4/1400/800)

"Turn end," Takeo announced.

Takeo's hand: 5

"My turn then. Draw!" Hikari said, drawing her next card and taking a quick glance at it before a small, unnoticeable smile appeared on her face. "I'll switch my _Shine Angel_ to Defense mode!"

As Hikari switched her card's position, the Angel monster knelt down, using its wings to protect itself.

"Next I'll summon _Gellenduo_ in Defense mode!" Hikari said as she played her card.

The next monster, or monsters, that appeared were two small life forms, one a light green color and the other colored pink. Both of them had a halo around their body as they just floated in place. (4/1700/0)

'_So she uses a Light-Attribute deck. But then again, judging from that other monster, it's a Light Angel deck,_' Takeo figured.

"Turn end!" Hikari announced.

Hikari's hand: 5

"Then I'll draw," Takeo said, pulling his next card, once again not looking at his hand. "I summon _Psycho Whorled_ in Attack mode!"

As Takeo played his next card, a large snail-like creature appeared with electricity surging from its shell and various places on his chest and head. (4/1900/1200)

"With _Psycho Whorled_'s Monster effect, I can pay 800 Life to allow one other Psychic-Type monster on my field gain the permanent ability to attack twice per turn. However, on the turn I activate its effect, my _Whorled_ will be unable to attack. But I'll pay the 800 Life to allow my _Psycho Commander_ to attack twice every turn!" Takeo explained as the snail monster released a burst of electricity that struck Takeo, draining his Life Points before jumping to _Psycho Commander_.

Hikari: 3500

Takeo: 2700

"Now I'll have my _Commander_ attack your _Shine Angel_!" Takeo declared as his monster fired its cannon at the defending Angel, once again destroying it in an instant, however, this time Hikari did not activate the effect of her monster, which Takeo had been anticipating. '_It's true she can choose whether or not to use her monster's effect, but why wouldn't she try to get more monsters on her field? Oh well, just makes this easier for me._' "_Psycho Commander_, destroy her _Gellenduo_!"

Takeo's monster fired its cannon again, but instead of the twin monsters being destroyed, a barrier formed around them and deflected the attack.

"What the?" Takeo wondered.

"_Gellenduo_'s Monster effect. They can't be destroyed by battle and they destroy themselves if I take any damage," Hikari explained.

'_So that's why she had both her monsters in Defense mode and why she didn't use _Shine Angel_'s effect,_' Takeo thought to himself. "During my Main Phase 2, I'll tune my Level-4 _Psycho Whorled_ with my Level-3 _Psycho Commander_."

In the middle of Takeo's sentence, his _Psycho Commander_ changed into light and shot upward into the sky before turning into three green discs with _Psycho Whorled_ flying up right after.

"Telepathic waves, the motions of healing. The souls of the fallen to restore the living. Feel my pain!" Takeo chanted as his two monsters vanished. "Synchro-summon! _Psycho Health Trancer_!"

The monster the appeared next was a slender girl wearing a blue body suit. Her left arm and leg, however, were replaced with cybernetic parts as half a helmet rested on the left side of her head. (7/2400/2000)

'_Synchro-summon. That's what he calls it,_' Hikari thought to herself as she looked at the new monster.

"_Psycho Health Trancer_'s Monster effect! Once per turn, I can remove a Psychic-Type monster in my Cemetery from play to be restored by 1200 Life," Takeo explained, shocking Hikari at the large gain. "I remove my _Psycho Commander_ from play to activate her effect."

As Takeo took his card from the Cemetery slot and put it in his pocket, _Psycho Health Trancer_ created two orbs of energy, one white and the other black, before raising them into the air, a soothing pulse of energy being released and washing over Takeo.

Hikari: 3500

Takeo: 3900

"Turn end," Takeo said.

Takeo's hand: 5

"My turn. Draw!" Hikari said, pulling her next card, her eyes widening a little before a smirk appeared on her face. '_Time to wrap up this duel, huh?_' "Not only can _Gellenduo_ not be destroyed in battle, but when used as a tribute for a Light-Attribute Angel-Type monster, _Gellenduo_ acts as two tributes! So I'll tribute _Gellenduo_ to summon _The Splendid Venus_ in Attack mode!"

The two lifeforms on Hikari's field slowly vanished as she played her next card. The monster to appear had an elegant appearance, wearing gold light-armor and carrying a scepter as two pairs of white wings extended from her back and a mask covered her face. (8/2800/2400)

'_Is that… one of the fabled Planet series monsters? Maybe this one's the reason why I can't read this girl,_' Takeo assumed in his head.

"While _The Splendid Venus_ is on the field, all non-Angel-Type monsters lose 500 ATK and DEF," Hikari explained as Takeo's monster grew weaker (7/2400-1900/2000-1500) "Also, the activation of my Magic and Trap cards cannot be negated!"

'_Shit. Looks like I already screwed up,_' Takeo thought to himself, glaring a little towards Hikari and her monster.

"_Splendid Venus_, attack his monster!" Hikari commanded, to which the Angel monster spread her wings and released a bright, blinding light that managed to destroy _Psycho Health Trancer_.

Hikari: 3500

Takeo: 3000

"Turn end."

Hikari's hand: 5

"My turn. Draw!" Takeo said, pulling his next card and this time feeling the need to scan his hand. '_I won't be able to destroy that monster of hers with what I have now, but I can at least slow it down._' "I summon _Wall Creator_ in Defense mode!"

As Takeo played his card, what looked like a mutated octopus man wearing an outfit resembling a masked wrestler appeared on the field, but the effect of _The Splendid Venus_ weakened it. (4/1200-700/2000-1500)

"Is that all? Your monster doesn't stand a chance, even if it's in Defense mode," Hikari stated.

"When _Wall Creator_ is normal-summoned, I can select a monster on my opponent's side of the field. That monster cannot attack or be used as a tribute as long as _Wall Creator_ is on the field," Takeo said, surprising Hikari as the only monster on her field was _The Splendid Venus_, forcing it to become the target of the effect. "However, I have to pay 500 Life during each of my End Phases to keep my monster alive. But I'll set two cards before I do."

Takeo placed two cards facedown in his Duel Disk, two reversed cards appearing on the field before his monster drained some more Life Points from him.

Takeo's hand: 4

Hikari: 3500

Takeo: 2500

"My turn. Draw," Hikari said as she drew, but even with Takeo's monster weakened, she didn't have anything in her hand that could destroy the monster. "Turn end."

Hikari's hand: 6

"My turn. Draw," Takeo said, pulling his next card. "Reversed card, open! _Psycho Tune_!"

As the card rose, the image showed some kind of strange machine releasing a light-green mist with a monster rising up from it.

"With this Permanent Trap card, I can special-summon any Psychic-Type monster in my Cemetery and treat it as a Tuner monster," Takeo explained

'_Tuner monster?_' Hikari repeated in her head.

"The monster I choose to special-summon is my Level-4 _Psycho Whorled_!" Takeo decided as the Trap card summoned the machine in its image and released the same light-green mist, which caused the snail-like monster to slowly reappear. (4/1900-1400/1200-700) "Reverse card, open!"

Takeo's second facedown card rose, the image showing a woman dressed in a strange set of robes, a bladed staff held in her left hand and a shield held in her right.

"_Psycho Healing_! When this card is activated, I gain 1000 Life for every Psychic-Type monster on my field, so with two I'll gain 2000 Life," Takeo said as a soothing pulse of energy washed over Takeo's side of the field.

Hikari: 3500

Takeo: 4500

"Next, I'll tune my Level-4 _Wall Creator_ with my Level-4 _Psycho Whorled_!" Takeo said as his two monster flew into the air, _Psycho Whorled_ changing into four green disks while _Wall Creator_ turned into four white stars. "Telepathic waves, deceiving my foes. Mental scarring, ruin their minds. Complete and total domination of the mind."

A burst of light shot through the four disks, engulfing the four stars.

"Synchro-summon!" Takeo shouted as the light slowly faded. "_Mental Sphere Demon_!"

When the light had completely faded, the winged green monster from Takeo's entrance exam made its reappearance. (8/2700-2200/2300-1800)

"But now, since the monster that I had special-summoned with my _Psycho Tune_ card was removed from the field, the Trap card is destroyed. And when it's sent to the Cemetery, I take damage equal to my revived monster's Level times 400," Takeo explained, which added up to 1600 damage since _Psycho Whorled_ was a Level-4 monster.

Hikari: 3500

Takeo: 2900

"But now that your _Wall Creator_ monster is gone, _The Splendid Venus_ is free to attack again, and your monster didn't have the ATK to stand up to her anyway," Hikari pointed out.

"I never said my turn was done. Next I'll summon _Power Injector_ in Attack mode," Takeo said.

The next monster to appear looked like some kind of Frankenstein rip-off with stitches and bolts in his head. The monster also wore a grey shirt under a blue jacket along with blue pants. Its hands, however, were replaced with what looked like cannons. (4/1300-800/1400-900)

'_How exactly is that thing going to help him?_' Hikari asked herself.

"_Power Injector_'s Monster effect. By paying 600 Life, I can increase the ATK of all Psychic-Type monsters on my field by 500 until the end of my turn," Takeo explained as he willingly paid the cost as his two monsters regained their ATK power. (8/2200-2700/1800) (4/800-1300/900)

Hikari: 3500

Takeo: 2300

'_He's up to something,_' Hikari thought to herself as, even with the power boost, Takeo's monsters were no match for _The Splendid Venus_.

"Then, from my hand, I play the Equip Magic card, _Psycho Sword_!" Takeo said as he played the card, the image showing a strange-looking weapon with a hilt that looked more organic than metallic due to what appeared to be eyes in several places and the blade seemed like it was made of energy. "This card can only be equipped to a Psychic-Type monster, and it increases the ATK of the equipped monster by the difference in our Life Points, as long as mine are lower than yours, to a maximum of 2000."

"By the difference?" Hikari repated.

"That's correct. And right now my Life Points are lower than yours by 1200, meaning that once I equip the sword to one of my monsters, they'll gain a 1200 ATK boost," Takeo said, shocking Hikari. "And I'll equip it to my _Mental Sphere Demon_!"

The sword on Takeo's Magic card materialized, only to be absorbed into the body of the Psychic-Type demon. (8/2700-3900/1800)

"_Mental Sphere Demon_, destroy _The Splendid Venus_ with **Mental Shock!**" Takeo declared, to which his monster released a surge of energy towards Hikari and her monster, destroying _The Splendid Venus_ and knocking Hikari on her back.

Hikari: 2400

Takeo: 2300

And with _The Splendid Venus_ off the field, the ATK and DEF of Takeo's monsters rose, but _Mental Sphere Demon_'s ATK dropped a bit due to the smaller gap in their Life Points. (8/3900-2800-3300/1800-2300) (4/1300-1800/900-1400)

"When _Mental Sphere Demon_ destroys a monster, I gain Life Points equal to the destroyed monster's ATK," Takeo explained as his Life Points rose and Hikari slowly got back to her feet.

Hikari: 2400

Takeo: 5100

And now with Takeo having more Life Points than Hikari, _Mental Sphere Demon_'s ATK boost from the Magic card faded. (8/3300-3200/2300)

"Next, _Power Injector_ will attack directly," Takeo said, to which the monster raised its cannon-like arms and fired two blasts of light-green energy at the girl.

Hikari: 600

Takeo: 5100

"Turn end," Takeo said.

Takeo's hand: 3

Hikari slowly regained her composure, staggering from Takeo's last attack.

"My turn. Draw!" Hikari said as she pulled her next card, not about to go down without a fight. "From my hand, I play the Magic card, _Sealing Swords Of Light_!"

As Hikari played her card, a wall of swords made of light rained down and stopped in the middle of the field.

"Now none of your monsters can attack me for three turns!" Hikari explained. "Next I summon _Fairy Archer_ in Defense mode!"

The next monster to appear on the field was, as its name implied, a small fairy wearing a blue body suit with leaves acting as a skirt. The fairy had a pair of glass-like wings that were orange in color bordered with red and she held and orange bow. Despite not looking like an angel monster, it was still of the Angel-Type. (3/1400/600)

"During my Main Phase, _Fairy Archer_ can inflict 400 damage to my opponent for every Light-Attribute monster on my field. Since she's by herself, my _Archer_ will deal 400 damage!" Hikari stated as the little fairy pulled out an arrow, its tip replaced with a red crystal, before firing it and striking Takeo's chest.

Hikari: 600

Takeo: 4700

"Turn end."

Hikari's hand: 5

"My turn. Draw!" Takeo said as he pulled his next card. '_Why is she still struggling? The gap between our Life is more than 4000, and most duelists I've faced give up at such a distance._' "Turn end."

Takeo's hand: 4

"My turn. Draw!" Hikari said, pulling her next card. "I summon my third _Shine Angel_ in Defense mode!"

As Hikari played her card, her final gold-winged Angel monster appeared and knelt down. (4/1400/800)

"And now my _Fairy Archer_'s effect activates again!" Hikari said as this time the fairy pulled out two arrows and fired them both, this time striking Takeo's left shoulder and right forearm.

Hikari: 600

Takeo: 3900

"Turn end."

Hikari's hand: 5

"My turn. Draw," Takeo said as he pulled his next card, the swords of light almost gone, to which Takeo finally figured out Hikari's plan. '_She's trying to take me down with burn damage from her _Fairy Archer_ until her Magic card ends. Have to say, not too bad._' "Turn end."

Takeo's hand: 5

"My turn. Draw!" Hikari said, pulling her next card. "From my Cemetery, I remove from play my two _Shine Angel_s…"

As Hikari pulled the two cards from her Cemetery, their holographic forms appeared on the field momentarily.

"To special-summon my _Holy Shine Soul_ in Attack mode!" Hikari announced as she played her card, a transparent girl with blonde hair, large white wings and wearing a white gown appeared. (6/2000/1800) "And now my _Fairy Archer_'s effect activates again!"

_Fairy Archer_ pulled out three arrows and fired them, striking Takeo's stomach, Duel Disk and right leg.

Hikari: 600

Takeo: 2700

"Turn end."

Hikari's hand: 5

"I draw," Takeo said, pulling his next card and taking a quick glance at it. '_This'll put an end to the duel._ "I set one card to end my turn."

A reversed card appeared on Takeo's field as the swords of light completely faded away.

Takeo's hand: 5

"My turn. Draw!" Hikari said, pulling her next card. "I summon _Banisher Of The Light_ in Defense mode!"

As Hikari played her next card, a young man dressed in and orange and blue robe while wearing a blue hat appeared on the field. (3/100/2000)

"Battle! _Holy Shine Soul_ will attack your _Power Injector_ with **Holy Light!**" Hikari commanded, the Angel monster rose into the air and extended her wings, releasing a bright beam of light that struck _Power Injector_ and destroyed him.

Hikari: 600

Takeo: 2000

"And during my Main Phase 2, I activate my _Fairy Archer_'s effect!" Hikari announced as her pixie monster drew four arrows and fired them at Takeo.

"Reverse card, open!" Takeo said as his facedown card slowly rose, the image of the card showing an ancient gun made of gold chained to a pillar and aimed at a secret door as someone tried to enter, but didn't see the rope that was attached to the door, which was in turn attached to the gun's trigger. "_Gun That Crosses Hell's Door_!"

From the card, the golden gun on the artwork materialized in Takeo's hand as _Fairy Archer_'s four arrows turned into light and was absorbed into the gun's barrel, which shocked Hikari.

"When I would be dealt Effect Damage, I can activate this Counter Trap card to send the damage back to my opponent," Takeo explained as Hikari braced herself before Takeo pulled the trigger, releasing a burst of energy at the girl.

Hikari: 0

Takeo: 2000 (winner)

With Hikari's Life Points at zero, the remaining monsters faded along with the gold gun in Takeo's hand.

"I lost? But there's no way I should be able to lose to someone who cheats…" Hikari muttered to herself, but didn't notice Takeo walking up to her.

"You really think I cheat?" Takeo asked, gaining Hikari's attention. "If you really believe I cheat, then think about this: why would my cards require such a high price to use their abilities? Anyway, I'll be leaving now."

As the Psycho Duelist left to return to the Osiris Dorm for the welcoming party, Hikari turned around and headed back to the Obelisk Blue Girl's Dorm while thinking about what Takeo had said.

* * *

When Takeo got back to the Osiris Dorm, he spotted Judai and Sho just arriving as well and they turned to face him when they heard approaching footsteps.

"Oh, there you are, Takeo," Sho greeted.

"You guys were actually looking for me?" Takeo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"To begin with, yeah. Until _aniki_ found a way to get us in trouble with the Obelisk Blue students," Sho said, surprising Takeo a little with the _aniki_ bit, but figured the shorter boy was talking about Judai.

'_So he sees Judai as a big brother figure. That's probably where their conversation earlier was leading,_' Takeo thought to himself.

"So where did you go to, anyway?" Judai asked.

"Just wandering around. Seems I have someone thinking I cheated with my deck, so they challenged me to a duel," Takeo said.

"Did you win?"

"Yeah, and gave them a little something to think about," Takeo said. "So were you two looking for me just to see where I went or was it something important?"

"Well, it seems the third bunk is already taken by a repeating student, Maeda Hayato-_kun_," Sho answered.

"So it looks like either way I'll be getting my own room," Takeo figured.

"Well, let's hurry up and get some food. I'm starving!" Judai exclaimed before rushing into the small dining hall with Sho and Takeo following behind him, and indeed the room was small.

Instead of tables and chairs, the students had to sit on benches and for the food, all they received were a plate of small fish that looked like sardines, a bowl of rice and a bowl of dipping sauce for the fish.

"What's _this_!" one of the other Osiris students complained. "The other dorms had an incredible feast! And to make things worse, our dorm leader isn't even human! He's a cat…?"

Indeed, sitting at the front table, or rather sleeping on it, was a fat tabby cat. But from the small kitchen behind the front table, a rather scrawny-looking man with black hair wearing a white shirt, dark tie and glasses walked out and waved to the students.

"I'm your dormitory leader, Daitokuji-_nya_!" the man greeted, ending his sentence with a meow. "And in class, I'll be in charge of alchemy. Pleased to meet you all-_nya_."

"Delicious!" Judai's voice rang out as he ate ahead of everyone else, unfortunately earning everyone's attention.

"T-That's tasteless, _aniki_," Shotold Judai.

"Really? It's awfully delicious to me!" Judai said with his mouth full.

"T-That's not what I meant…" Sho sighed.

"It isn't _too_ bad," Takeo said, also having started to eat, but at a slowler pace than Judai, though the three of them didn't notice Daitokuji walking towards them.

"A matter so small don't bother me-_nya_!" Daitokuji said, earning the attention of the three students and causing Judai to sweatdrop. "Well, everyone, it will be a pleasure working with you all-_nya_."

After everyone had eaten, the students returned to their rooms, except for Takeo who talked to Daitokuji about switching to an empty room.

"Oh? Why would you want that-_nya_?" Daitokuji asked.

"Because I feel more comfortable by myself. Plus, all the rooms only have a three-bunk bed and the one Judai and Sho are in already has a third person," Takeo answered.

"Oh, that's right. I had forgotten about Hayato-_kun_. Very well, I'll see about moving you into another room and let you know later tonight," Daitokuji complied.

Takeo merely bowed before leaving to rejoin Judai and Sho in their room just as Sho was pouring some green tea.

"Oh, welcome back, Takeo," Sho greeted before grabbing a fourth cup.

"No thanks, I'm not thirsty," Takeo said before sitting in a chair as Sho put the cup back.

"So how did it go? Were you able to get your own room?" Judai asked.

"Daitokuji said he'd look into it and let me know later," Takeo said before noticing Judai was rubbing his stomach. "Had enough to eat?"

"Yeah, I'm stuffed. That food was so good!" Judai answered.

"You were the only one who got a second helping, huh?" Sho asked as he brought the tray of cups over to his friends.

"With how fast you were packing it away, I'm not surprised," Takeo said.

"Thank you!" Judai said as he took a cup of tea from Sho.

"Hayato-_kun_! Tea?" Sho offered to his hefty roommate.

"I don't want any," Hayato answered, still sleeping in his bunk with his back to Sho.

"Oh, okay…"

"And why not? Sho went to all that trouble to brew it up and everything!" Judai argued.

"It's okay, _aniki_."

"It's not that he's a bad cook or anything. I'm depressed about our predicament, so I haven't been able to swallow a bite of food," Hayato explained, but Judai's Personal Planner started to ring immediately after, to which the brunette boy answered it to find a message from Manjoume.

As Judai played the message, Manjoue's face appeared on the screen.

"Hey, Dropout Boy. I'll be waiting on the Duel Field at twelve midnight. We'll duel with the Ante Rule, with both of our best cards at stake. Come, if you've got the guts…" Manjoume's message said.

"Things have finally gotten interesting!" Judai said, getting pumped up for the duel.

'_Ante Rule? Well, it doesn't matter who the opponent is, I'm going to watch Judai's duel to see why he's able to alter the future,_' Takeo thought to himself.

Judai gathered his Duel Disk and deck as Takeo did the same, never leaving his Disk or cards out of his site, before leaving with Sho right behind them and heading towards the main building's Duel Field.

* * *

"_Aniki_, Asuka-_san_ said we shouldn't deal with them!" Sho protested as the three of them drew closer to the Duel Field.

"What are you talking about? It's a duel!" Judai said, not backing down. "A man takes up a challenge if he's posed with one."

"Who's Asuka-_san_?" Takeo asked.

"She's from Obelisk Blue and actually saved us from getting into a fight with Manjoume and his two buddies," Sho answered.

"I see…"

As the three Osiris students entered the Duel Field room, they were met by Manjoume and two other Obelisk students.

"How good of you to come, Number 110!" Manjoume greeted before taking a quick glance towards Takeo. "And I see you brought another Dropout Boy to back you up."

"Huh? Wait a minute…" said the blue-haired Obelisk student as he looked carefully at Takeo before his eyes widened. "Ah! Th-That's the guy with those weird cards!"

"What about it?" Manjoume asked, taking a quick glance at the young man. "He's not who I'm dueling anyway."

"I'd have no reason _not_ to come, once I'm told about a duel," Judai said, not even hearing Manjoume's friend mentioning Takeo as he walked up to the dueling platform.

"_Aniki_!" Sho called out, trying to stop Judai from taking part in the Ante Duel, but Judai had already walked up the steps, so Sho and Takeo stood on the sidelines to watch.

"You're going to show me either the dumb luck or the skill that beat Professor Chronos!" Manjoume declared.

"Right! And I've wanted to know just how skilled the elites of the Duel Academia are," Judai said, to which Manjoume chuckled.

"Listen up! We'll be using the Ante Rule, putting both our best cards at stake," Manjoume reminded his opponent.

"Sure! I'm ready for anything!" Judai said, feeling pumped up as both of them activated their Duel Disks and drew their starting hands.

"Duel!"

Judai: 4000

Manjoume: 4000

"It's my turn first!" Manjoume declared as he drew his sixth card and then looked at his hand. "I summon _Reborn Zombie_ in Defense mode!"

As Manjoume played his card, a humanoid monster appeared, its body made of decaying flesh as only its right arm and right leg were completely bone and for clothing it wore a tattered green robe. (4/1000/1600)

"I play a card face-down and end my turn," Manjoume said as he slide a card into his Duel Disk, a reversed card appearing on the field.

Manjoume's hand: 4

'_Duels contain the element of luck as long as there's drawing. However, what decides a match is a strategy based on careful calculations,_' Manjoume thought to himself as a smirk appeared on his face. "Obelisk Blue against Osiris Red… The difference in our intellect has already determined the outcome of this!"

"You can't play a duel in your head! My blazing heart will take you on! It's my turn. Draw!" Judai said as he pulled his sixth card before looking at his hand and spotting a familiar face. "Oh, Partner! With lucky old you by my side, I've got nothing to fear!"

'_Partner?_' Takeo thought to himself before looking at the cards in Judai's hand. '_Is he like me then? Is that why I can't see his future?_'

"I activate the Magic card, _Fusion_!" Judai announced as he showed the card, surprising Manjoume before holding up two other cards. "I fuse together _Elemental Hero Featherman_ and _Burstlady_…"

As Judai slid all three cards into his Cemetery, the holographic forms of the two monsters appeared on the field before being enveloped by a bright flash of light.

"To summon _Elemental Hero Flame Wingman_ in Attack mode!" Judai announced as the Fusion Monster that earned his victory at the entrance exam made its reappearance. (6/2100/1200) "All right! This is my favorite card!"

"I've caught you already, it seems," Manjoume said, his shock gone and probably only there in the first place due to how quickly Judai performed the fusion-summon.

"What?"

"I've already thoroughly analyzed your entry exam duel. Duels are all about brains!" Manjoume said, causing Judai to grit his teeth. "I activate the Trap card, _Hell Polymer_!"

As the reversed card rose, the image showed a monster being engulfed by a possessive blaze. A cloud of dark energy then surrounded the card.

"_Hell Polymer_…?" Sho repeated.

"It's basic knowledge to a duelist," a female's voice spoke up as Sho and Takeo heard footsteps approaching, causing them to turn around and see a girl with dirty-blonde hair and amber eyes wearing an Obelisk Blue uniform.

"A-Asuka-_san_," Sho said, surprised to see the Obelisk girl there.

"When your opponent summons a Fusion Monster, you can gain control of that monster by sacrificing one monster on your field," Asuka explained, her attention focused on the field.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Sho asked.

"It means Judai's going to lose his monster," Takeo answered.

"I sacrifice _Reborn Zombie_ to gain control of _Flame Wingman_!" Manjoume stated as his monster disappeared in a flash of light.

"_Flame Wingman_!" Judai called to his monster, but the fused _Elemental Hero_ turned to light and was sucked into Manjoume's Trap card.

A small explosion destroyed the Trap card, but Judai's monster slowly rose in its place, a dark aura surrounding its body as its white wing turned pitch black.

"His monster got taken!" Sho exclaimed.

"I knew that a Fusion Monster finished Professor Chronos off in your battle with him, so I had that Trap set," Manjoume explained. "I can't believe that you'd step your way right into my Trap, without even knowing that. You're a typical Osiris Red."

"So he was planning to wait until Judai brought out a Fusion Monster. Not a bad plan," Takeo said, slightly intrigued by Manjoume's play.

"Hm?" Asuka hummed as she glanced at Takeo. "Hey, I remember you. You used those new cards during the entry exam."

"You were watching, too?" Takeo asked. "Don't tell me you think I cheated. I already have someone on my ass about that."

"Well I can't say I've heard of those monsters or type of summoning before, but a Duel Disk wouldn't play the cards if they weren't real," Asuka stated.

"A fusion-summon's a special-summon, so I can still normal-summon this turn," Judai said as he took another look at his hand. '_But I don't have any monsters in my hand with the ATK or DEF to overcome _Flame Wingman_. Guess I'll have to tide things over with a defensive monster…_'

'Flame Wingman_ is a monster that deals damage equal to the ATK of the monster it destroys. Whatever he does, he can't go unscathed next turn!_' Manjoume thought to himself with a smirk on his face.

"I summon _Elemental Hero Clayman_ in Defense mode!" Judai said, playing his next card.

The next monster to appear had a body made of clay and stone with a red head as he crouched down. (4/800/2000)

"I end my turn," Judai said.

Judai's hand: 2

"I draw my card!" Manjoume shouted, almost ripping his next card from his deck. "I summon _Hell Soldier_!"

As Manjoume played the card, a humanoid monster wearing black armor and carrying a rather large sword in its right hand and a shield in its left. (4/1200/1400)

"Go, _Flame Wingman_! **Flame Shoot!**" Manjoume commanded, to which the Fusion Monster complied by jumping into the air and igniting its body before diving down at _Clayman_ and destroying it, then Manjoume had the gall to recite _Flame Wingman_'s effect to its original owner. "Due to _Flame Wingman_'s Monster effect, the ATK of the destroyed opposing monster is dealt as damage to the opposing player!"

Judai was in shock as his old monster stood before him and held out its dragon-head arm before releasing a stream of fire that engulfed Judai's body.

Judai: 3200

Manjoume: 4000

"You don't have a single monster left to defend you! _Hell Soldier_! **Hell Attack!**" Manjoume commanded as his monster leapt ahead and slashed Judai with its sword, causing the brunette boy to drop to his knees.

Judai: 2000

Manjoume: 4000

"By putting a stop to your Fusion Monster, you're already out of options, it seems! I don't know how you were in your small town, but you're not at the level you need to make it in the Duel Academia! Got that yet!" Manjoume shouted before sliding a card into his Duel Disk. "I set a card on the field, ending my turn!"

Manjoume's hand: 3

"Now, it's your turn!" Manjoume called to Judai, but then saw the brunette's body start to shake. "Shedding tears of regret, are we, Number 110?"

But instead of the sound of crying, the room echoed with the sound of Judai's laughter as he got back to his feet.

"I'm touched!" Judai exclaimed.

"What…?" Manjoume asked, confused as to why Judai would continue to fight.

"The Duel Academia sure is fun! There's a bunch of guys like you around here, aren't there? This is gonna be great!" Judai said enthusiastically.

"What was that?"

"It's my turn! Draw!" Judai said, pulling his next card. "I summon _Elemental Hero Sparkman_!"

The next monster to appear was a warrior wearing blue and gold armor that covered him from head to toe with small sparks of electricity coursing around his body. (4/1600/1400)

"Go, _Sparkman_! **Spark Flash!**" Judai declared the attack towards Manjoume's _Hell Soldier_, to which the hero of electricity responded by firing a blast a lightning at the opposing monster and destroyed it in the resulting explosion.

Judai: 2000

Manjoume: 3600

But from the smoke, _Hell Soldier_'s sword flew into the air before aiming at Judai and launching itself at him, to which Judai clutched his stomach.

Judai: 1600

Manjoume: 3600

"Its Monster effect activates! _Hell Soldier_ has an effect that deal the same damage its player took to the opposing player when it's destroyed!" Manjoume explained as he pushed the card into the Cemetery slot.

"_Aniki_!" Sho called out to Judai.

"Your nii-san is mighty spirited, but pretty careless," Asuka assumed. "To disregard a Monster effect like that…"

"Judai-_kun_ isn't my real _aniki_…" Sho corrected, earning Asuka's attention. "How could you put it… Well, he's my "spiritual _aniki_"."

Asuka wasn't sure what to say, so she turned her attention back to the duel.

"I place a card face-down and end my turn," Judai said as a reversed card appeared behind _Sparkman_.

Judai's hand: 1

"I'm sure to win with my next attack!" Manjoume declared, possibly not even taking Judai's reversed card into account before drawing his next card. "I draw my card! Go! _Flame Wingman_! Use your Flame Shoot on his _Sparkman_!"

"I activate the Trap card, _Different-Dimensional Tunnel – Mirror Gate_!" Judai announced as his reversed card rose before _Flame Wingman_ could start it's attack.

The card's image merely showed a spiraling tunnel of mirrors.

"What?" Manjoume shouted in shock, not expecting the card Judai activated.

"_Mirror Gate_?" Sho repeated while Takeo let out an impressed whistle.

"Not bad, Judai," Takeo said, earning Sho's attention since the smaller boy didn't know about the card's effect. "_Mirror Gate_ can only be activated if your opponent attacks a face-up _Elemental Hero_ monster on your side of the field. The two monsters switch sides and the battle resumes. Meaning Manjoume's about to take a good chunk of damage."

Two beams of light appeared on the field, one surrounding _Sparkman_ and the other surrounding _Flame Wingman_. When the lights faded, _Sparkman_ was on Manjoume's side of the field surrounded by the same dark aura that had once possessed _Flame Wingman_ while a flaming aura surrounded the Fusion Monster. The two monsters leapt into the air and started a powerful struggle as _Sparkman_ tried to electrocute _Flame Wingman_.

"**Sparkling Breaker!**" Judai shouted, to which _Flame Wingman_ tightened its grip on _Sparkman_'s hands, forcing the electricity to flow back into the electric hero at twice the power, overloading _Sparkman_ and causing him to explode.

Judai: 1600

Manjoume: 3100

"Next up, due to _Flame Wingman_'s Monster effect, the ATK of the destroyed opposing monster is dealt as damage to my opponent!" Judai recited as _Flame Wingman_ released a torrent of excess electricity from _Sparkman_ at Manjoume.

Judai: 1600

Manjoume: 1500

"That's my _aniki_ for you!" Sho cheered.

"He's pretty good, huh?" Asuka said, slightly impressed.

"I would've said _unpredictable_ instead, but that works," Takeo said.

"You're so cool, _aniki_!" Sho shouted as Judai flashed a victory sign with his fingers at his three friends, not knowing Asuka was there.

"What a cut-up…" Asuka chuckled a little.

"Why, you… Don't get too ahead of yourself there, you freaking Osiris Red dropout!" Manjoume said as he pulled a card from his hand. "I activate the Magic card, _Hell Blast_! During the turn in which a monster under my control is destroyed, it destroys one monster on the field, dealing damage equal to half that monster's ATK!"

A spiraling wind picked up in the middle of the field and slowly grew into a hurricane that swallowed _Flame Wingman_ and destroyed it.

"_Flame Wingman_…!" Judai muttered as his life Points dropped.

Judai: 550

Manjoume: 1500

"Next, I activate the Trap card, _Cry Of The Living Dead_!" Manjoume said as his reversed card rose, revealing nothing more than a cemetery. "This card selects a Monster card from my Cemetery and special-summons it in Attack mode. And I'll special-summon _Hell Soldier_!"

Manjoume's Warrior-Type monster reappeared on the field. (4/1200/1400)

"Then, I sacrifice _Hell Soldier_ to summon _Hell General Mephisto_!" Manjoume announced as the _Soldier_ disappeared only to be replaced by a Demon-Type monster wearing heavy black armor and carrying a double-bladed axe while on the back of a demonic steed. (5/1800/1700) "One way or the other, it appears I've clinched my win! And according to the Ante Rule, I'll take your best card!"

Manjoume's hand: 2

"We'll see about that," Judai scoffed.

"What?" Manjoume asked, wondering what else Judai could have planned before smirking. "A duel is determined with 99% intelligence, with luck play its part a mere 1%."

"_Kuri kuri!_" a voice called out to Judai, causing him to look at the lone card in his hand, _Winged Kuriboh_.

"Yeah, I know, Partner!" Judai said to his card, which winked at him, but it was unknown if he noticed it. "I'll risk it all on that 1%! My draw will call out a miracle! My turn. Draw!"

As Judai drew his card, he turned it over and looked at it, a grin appearing on his face.

'_All right!_' Judai shouted in victory in his head.

But before Judai could play it, Takeo glared towards the hallway.

"Judai, you better wrap this up!" Takeo called out to the brunette.

"Huh?" everyone wondered.

"Give it a few seconds and you'll hear it," Takeo said, to which everyone stayed quiet and the sound of echoing footsteps could be heard getting closer to the Duel Field room.

"The security guards are coming!" Asuka announced as Manjoume's monster faded from the field. "With the Ante Rule being forbidden by school regulations, and using a facility after hours, you could get expelled for breaking regulations!"

"Huh? There are school regulations like that?" Judai asked in surprise.

"Didn't you read your Student Personal Planner?" Asuka asked as she held up hers.

'_Asuka-san_ _had been watching my duel?_' Manjoume thought to himself, finally noticing the Obelisk girl standing there as a slight blush appeared on his face.

"Manjoume-_san_, this is bad!" shouted Manjoume's blue-haired friend, bringing his senses back.

"That's enough for tonight. I'll take care of _my_ win," Manjoume said as he turned to leave.

"The match isn't over yet!" Judai argued.

"That's plenty. You've shown me how capable you are. Apparently, your entry exam was just dumb luck," Manjoume said as he jumped down from the platform and walked out of the room with his two friends following behind.

"Quit messing around!" Judai shouted.

"_Aniki_, they're gonna find us!" Sho said worriedly.

"Come on, this way!" Asuka said, pointing to a way out that would get them past the security.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

"No! I won't move from this spooot!" Judai argued stubbornly.

"Looks like I'll have to drag him out. You two lead the way," Takeo said as he walked onto the platform and grabbed Judai by the back of his blazer's collar and literally started dragging him off the platform and after Asuka and Sho out of the room and out of the building.

When the security arrived at the room, they found no one in it.

* * *

Outside of the building, Takeo had released his grip from the struggling Judai.

"For crying out loud, you're quite the hassle, aren't you?" Asuka asked.

"Tch, I don't need your opinion…" Judai scoffed.

"Thank you, Asuka-_san_," Sho said.

"So how did that harsh ordeal from Obelisk Blue feel?" Asuka asked.

"Okay, I guess. But I thought I could've done on a little longer," Judai said with his head held high.

"Is that so?" Asuka asked, earning Judai's full attention. "If no one interfered, you would have lost your most important card due to the Ante Rule right around now, right?"

"Nope, I had that duel won," Judai said with a confident smile on his face as he revealed the last card he had drawn, which was _Resurrection Of The Dead_.

Asuka gasped in shock as Judai kept his confident smile while they all pictured how the rest of the duel would have went. Judai would've used _Resurrection Of The Dead_ to revive his _Flame Wingman_ and attack _Hell general Mephisto_. Manjoume would take the initial 500 damage, dropping him to 1000, and from _Flame Wingman_'s effect, Manjoume would take an extra 1600 damage, ending the duel in Judai's victory. Judai's smile grew into a smirk before he walked off towards the Osiris Red dorm.

"_Aniki_!" Sho called out before running after his friend.

"Unexpected things seem to happen a lot around Judai," Takeo mused before turning to Asuka. "Anyway, I might as well properly introduce myself. My name is Ikeda Takeo, and please don't use honorifics with my name, they really piss me off."

"I'm Tenjoin Asuka," Asuka introduced herself, sweatdropping a little at Takeo's comment towards honorifics until Takeo's Personal Planner went off.

The Psycho Duelist pulled his Planner out of his pocket and opened it to see a new message, to which he played it.

"Ikeda Takeo-_kun_, I've managed to make arrangements for you to have your own room, so drop by and speak with me so I can let you know which room is yours-_nya_," Daitokuji's message said, but it looked like a vein was going to burst from Takeo's forehead due to the use of an honorific.

"Looks like I gotta let him know about my deal with honorifics, but at least now I have my own room," Takeo said before glancing at Asuka. "See you around, I guess."

With that, Takeo walked off towards the Osiris dorm as Asuka watched.

'_Yuki Judai and Ikeda Takeo… They might be interesting…_' Asuka thought to herself.

* * *

**A/N: And there's the chapter! That's right, Hikari uses a Light-Attribute Angel-Type deck. Just so all of you know, as I believe I mentioned last chapter, I'm trying to keep everything as close to the original Japanese version (both in terms of the show and the OCG) as possible, and in the Japanese version, Fairy-Type monsters are known as Angel-Type monsters while Fiend-Types are known as Demon-Types (and Zombies are called Undead). I hope you all enjoyed Takeo's duel against Hikari as well as the future chapters of this fanfic. Also, Sangenshin is the apparent Japanese name for "Egyptian Gods" (I'm not certain since I've only seen the Japanese word used once in an episode of 5D's) in case anyone is wondering who exactly Takeo was referring to.**

**Next time: A false letter meant for Judai ends up in Sho's hands, resulting in trouble for the two Osiris students at the Obelisk Blue Girl's Dorm. And when Hikari challenges Takeo to a rematch, who will emerge the victor now that it's harder for the Psycho Duelist to read the Light Angel Duelist's mind and what lessons will be learned? Stay tuned to find out!**

**Please R&R, everyone!**


	3. Turn 3

**A/N: Hey everyone, welcome back to Duel Academia Psychosis! First of all I'd like to start by saying a little something: IF I CATCH _ANYONE_ USING ANY OF MY SELF-MADE CHARACTERS AND DECK, EVEN WITH _MINOR_ CHANGES, WITHOUT ASKING FIRST, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU GET BANNED! Now then, I don't really have much to comment on, so let's get on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise! I DO, however, own my OCs Ikeda Takeo and Sakamoto Hikari!**

**

* * *

-Turn 3-**

The day following Judai's midnight duel against Manjoume was officially the first day of the school year at Duel Academia. The students met the teachers of their other class subjects and given small assignments. Currently, the first-year students were in Professor Chronos' class and he had just asked Asuka a question on Duel Monster cards.

"Among Duel Monsters cards, there are Monster cards, Fusion Monster cards, Ritual Monster card, Effect Monster cards, and Trap and Magic cards," Asuka said.

'_And my Synchro Monster cards,_' Takeo added in his head while leaning back in his seat.

"Next, Trap cards can be split into Normal Traps, Counter Trap, and Permanent Traps and Magic cards into Normal Magic, Permanent Magic, Equip Magic, Instant Magic, Ritual Magic, and Field Magic," Asuka finished.

'_And there's also Speed Spell cards, but apparently they don't exist yet,_' Takeo thought to himself.

"_Bellissimo!_ A superb job!" Chronos said happily. "It was a task far too simple for Obelisk Blue's Signora Asuka, was it not?"

"It's just the basics," Asuka said before bowing and sitting back down.

"Now then…" Chronos muttered as he looked around the room for someone to answer another question, unfortunately his next choice would become a victim. "Signore Marufuji!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" Sho said as he quickly stood up from his seat and bowed.

"Please explain to us what Field Magic does," Chronos requested.

"Um… Fi-Field… Magic is… well… err… umm…" Sho stumbled with his words.

"Even a kindergartener knows something like that!" an Obelisk Blue student called out, causing the other Obelisk students, other than Asuka and Hikari, to laugh at Sho while some of the Ra Yellow students started to join in while Sho continued to stutter and his face turned slightly red in embarrassment.

Hearing Sho being laughed at started reminding Takeo of his own childhood and the Psycho Duelist began to feel sympathy for the blue-haired Osiris student, even if just a little. But as he reached for his deck, a familiar blue transparent blob appeared next to him.

'Life Coordinator_? Why are you trying to stop me?_' Takeo asked his Partner.

"Don't worry. Just calm down, Sho," Takeo heard Judai say and looked down towards them.

"Very well, then. You may step back," Chronos said, excusing Sho as the boy sat back down. "To think that you were unable to answer the very basics among basics! Well done, Osiris Red. You've shocked me…"

Again, the Obelisk Blue students started to laugh at Sho. But _Life Coordinator_ was still keeping Takeo from grabbing his deck.

'_Why shouldn't I? Just one blast, that's all I'm going to do,_' Takeo told his Partner, planning to use his abilities to summon one of his monsters and attack the Obelisk students and Professor Chronos.

"I know what it is, but I just had stage fright…" Sho muttered.

"But _sensei_, knowledge and actual combat are two unrelated matters, aren't they?" Judai asked, surprising Chronos. "I mean, I'm one of the Osiris Red, as well, but I beat you in a duel, _sensei_!"

'_Mamma Mia!_' Chronos shouted in his head as he pulled out a handkerchief and started to pull on it with his teeth in embarrassment as the Osiris and Ra students laughed while Judai flashed a victory sign.

'_I guess embarrassment is better than being turned to ashes,_' Takeo thought to himself while his Partner smiled and squeaked happily before disappearing.

Being too embarrassed to continue the class, Professor Chronos let everyone go early. When the bell rung, the first-year students headed towards Professor Daitokuji's class for alchemy.

"Well, alchemy is literally creating metal, particularly gold, from items without metal, but in a broad sense of the word, it's a skill where you attempt to transform and shape ordinary substances into complete substances-_nya_," Daitokuji explained as Judai started to fall asleep at his desk.

"_Aniki_, thanks for earlier," Sho whispered to Judai.

"Huh? Thanks for what?" Judai asked.

"Originally starting in Ancient Egypt, passing through Arabia, and introduced to Europe…" Daitokuji continued until he spotted Sho and Judai having a conversation.

" "What"? You know…" Sho tried to remind Judai of the incident in Chronos' class, but then Judai spotted Daitokuji looking at them.

"Shh. If you keep chattering, you're going to get it from the teacher again, Sho," Judai warned his friend, unfortunately it was too late.

"Marufuji-_kun_," Daitokuji called.

"Y-Yes, sir!" Sho said as he stood at attention.

"Could you fetch Pharaoh for me?" Daitokuji asked.

"P-Pharaoh…?" Sho repeated.

"My cat-_nya_," Daitokuji answered before a loud meow filled the room and Sho looked down to see the fat tabby cat that the Osiris students first met during the welcoming party rubbing against his leg.

Not wanting to hold up the class, Sho picked up the fat cat and carried him over to Professor Daitokuji while the Obelisk students and half the Ra students snickered at the boy.

* * *

Meanwhile, in his office, Professor Chronos was writing a letter at his desk.

"Why, that dropout boy… how dare he embarrass me like that!" Chronos said to himself as he finished writing the letter and started folding it. "If he thinks I'm leaving it at that, he is surely mistaken!"

After putting the letter in an envelope, Chronos grabbed a hand mirror and some lipstick and, using the hand mirror to make sure he wouldn't miss anything, applied the lipstick to himself.

''_Melanzane… Melanzane…_' Chronos let his mind wander a little before blowing a kiss to his reflection before grabbing the envelope and literally sealed it with a kiss. "That should do it."

* * *

After Daitokuji's class ended, the first-years headed towards their gym class after changing into their jogging suits, but there was one student missing.

"Man, what's Sho doing?" Judai asked himself.

* * *

Inside the boy's change room, Professor Chronos started to look around.

"Gently, now…" Chronos muttered to himself before he started opening the lockers one after another. "Where could that dropout boy's shoes be? Where could they… Ah, here they are."

Inside the locker was a pair of red shoes with Judai's name written in them. Chronos then pulled out the envelope and placed it on top of Judai's shoes before smiling to himself.

* * *

In the gymnasium, the Academia's gym teacher arrived, also wearing a jogging suit.

"Hello, everyone. I am Ayukawa Emi, and as of today, I will be teaching you health and physical education," the teacher, Emi, introduced herself. "Pleased to meet you all."

* * *

In the change room, Sho skid across the floor as he reached the lockers.

"Oh, no! Class started!" Sho shouted to himself before running towards his locker while trying to take his shoes off.

When Sho got to his locker, he knelt down and noticed a pair of shoes already sitting there.

"Man, come on, _aniki_… you got things mixed up… This is _my_ locker, you know…" Sho said to himself as he grabbed Judai's shoes and started to pull them out of the locker until the envelope resting on top of them fell to the floor, to which Sho picked it up and gasped at the sight of the lipstick. "Huh? Could this be…!"

Sho looked around to make sure no one else was in the room before taking the letter to a corner, opened it and started to read.

"'I've liked you ever since we first met. I'll wait for you behind the girls' dorm tonight. -Tenjoin Asuka'…" Sho read before gasping in shock and falling on his backside. "I-I got a love letter from Asuka-_san_…"

Continuously thinking of the letter caused Sho to have a daydream of the Obelisk girl.

"I'm so happy…" Sho muttered happily.

* * *

After class, night had fallen and Sho still didn't show up. Judai and Takeo headed towards the Osiris dorm after being in the bathhouse.

"Man, where did Sho disappear to?" Judai wondered.

"Maybe he's too embarrassed after what happened in Chronos' and Daitokuji's classes and just went back to your guys' dorm room," Takeo guessed.

"You might be right. Well, see you tomorrow then," Judai said as he went to his room upstairs while Takeo went to his own room on the lower floor.

'_Why am I feeling sorry for that kid?_' Takeo mentally asked himself as he closed his room door behind himself. '_Maybe it's because he reminds me of myself when I was younger…_'

In his head, memories of others, adults and children alike, making fun of him for his psychic abilities.

'_Damn it! Leave me alone!_' Takeo shouted in his head before grabbing his Duel Disk, activating it and grabbing a card from his deck. "_Psychic Emperor_!"

As Takeo placed the card on his Duel Disk, a scrawny old man with green skin and wearing orange robes appeared sitting on the floor.

"_Ah, it's been a while, Takeo-san,_" the monster greeted as Takeo merely nodded, this time not bothered at the use of an honorific to his name, before sitting on the floor across from the _Psychic Emperor_. "_Is there a problem?_"

"The memories are coming back," Takeo explained.

"_I see… Do you know what might be the cause of this?_" _Psychic Emperor_ asked.

"I think it might be because of a kid named Sho. Everyone's getting on his case because he's part of the lower dorm, and it's reminding me of myself," Takeo explained.

"_Well the answer's already staring you in the face, Takeo-san,_" the old man stated as Takeo looked at him curiously. "_You need to make him more confident in himself._"

"I guess… And I thought I told you not to use honorifics in my name old man," Takeo said as his monster laughed.

"_Old habits die hard, Takeo,_" _Psychic Emperor_ said with a laugh as Takeo smirked a little.

* * *

"Hey, Sho, you'd better go take a bath. No one's-" Judai started as he entered his dorm room.

"Sho ain't here," Hayato interrupted.

"Huh?"

"What? Didn't you both go down to the bathhouse?" Hayato asked.

"We didn't go together," Judai answered before sitting on a stool. "Where did he go?"

* * *

Little did Judai know, Sho was in a rowboat heading towards the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm across the lake.

"Asuka-_san_! I'm on my way!" Sho shouted happily as he rowed.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Girl's Dorm, Professor Chronos, wearing a wetsuit, cut the lock to the gate leading to the bathhouse. Chronos then snuck in and ran from bush to bush, getting closer to the bathhouse until he was right behind it.

"Your awesome figure really makes me jealous, Asuka-_san_!" a female's voice said from inside the bathhouse.

"Stop staring at me so much. It's embarrassing…" Asuka's voice said.

"My, looks like your breasts have gotten bigger, Momoe!" the first girl's voice said.

"Geez, Junko-_san_! What are you touching!" another girl's voice shouted.

"This is exactly behind the girls' dorm's bathhouse!" Chronos laughed to himself before he started to imagine how things would play out from that point. "I'll see that dropout boy as he blindly arrives here, unbeknownst to that! And if I get a quick snap… If I get him in a picture, then it will be irrefutable proof of that pervert boy peeping into the ladies' bath to anyone's eye! And then, that dropout boy will be expelled, resulting in his farewell from this academy! _Adios_! That's Spanish… _Ciao_!"

As Chronos was ranting to himself, Sho pulled up at the mini dock and jumped out of the boat before running through the gate, not even noticing that the chain was cut.

* * *

Inside the bathhouse, Asuka and her friends, Makita Junko, a girl with brown hair, and Hamaguchi Momoe, a girl with long dark hair tied back into a ponytail.

"Anyway, it looks like none of the boys who enrolled this year are any good," Junko said. "Especially that Yuki Judai! He's noisy, crass, and cocky! Right, Asuka-_san_?"

"I don't really care about him," Asuka said as she washed her face with a towel before turning around.

"Hey, Asuka-_san_!" Junko said, not wondering why Asuka was so casual about her answer.

"That Misawa from Ra Yellow is quite the man, isn't he?" Momoe asked in an attempt to change the subject, even if slightly.

* * *

'_O sole mio… O sole mio… O sole mio… O sole…?_' Chronos repeated in his head until he heard someone approaching, prompting him to duck under the bushes and pull out his camera. "So, he's arrived. That dropout boy is flying right into the flame."

"Should be around here…" Sho said to himself, surprising Chronos when he came into view.

"What is this? Why is it Signore Marufuji?" Chronos shouted while jumping out of the bush.

"Who's there?" one of the Obelisk girl's called out as she walked out in her pajamas.

"Oh, no!" Chronos said to himself, knowing he was in trouble.

"A peeping tom! Pervert!" the girls shouted.

"Y-You can't be serious! If this keeps up, I'll be the one who's expelled!" Chronos said to himself as he tried to cover up his face before turning around to run away, only to slip and fall into the lake.

However, like an idiot, Sho just stood in place until he was surrounded by the girls, who were wearing their uniforms, pajamas or towels, and held his arms behind him back.

"Ow, ow, ow… What's the…?" Sho wondered.

"There's no place left to run, you pervert," Junko stated, shocking Sho with the pervert comment before being dragged into the main building of the girl's dorm.

* * *

"Wait, a love letter from our Asuka, you say?" Junko asked as she and Momoe wore their pajamas and Asuka was wearing her uniform.

"Yep. Right?" Sho said as he winked at Asuka.

"What a dope," Junko sighed. "There's no way that Asuka, the Queen of Obelisk Blue, would write a love letter to an Osiris Red like you!"

"I'm not lying! It was in my locker and said "I'll wait for you behind the girls' dorm"," Sho explained before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the letter before Junko swiped it out of his hand. "See?"

Junko then showed the letter to Asuka and Momoe so they could skim over what was written.

"I wouldn't write such vulgar words," Asuka said.

"It seems the men of Osiris Red don't even know _that_," Momoe said.

"Huh? Then, who in the world…" Sho said, wondering who would've wrote the letter.

"What's this? This is addressed to Yuki Judai," Junko said after skimming over the letter one more time.

"Wha? N-No way!" Sho said in shock, unable to believe he had no only fallen for a false letter, but one that wasn't even meant for him until Junko showed him the letter and pointed at the very top, causing him to sweatdrop as he read the name. "Yes, way…"

"I can't believe you were lured by some fake love letter," Junko said.

"And came here without any concern," Momoe added.

"And to top it off, it was all a mistake," Junko said.

"This is depressing…" Sho quietly sighed.

"You reap what you sow," Junko said, looking almost sorry for the little Osiris student.

"Isn't it the truth," Momoe added.

"Let's have this reported to the academy," Junko suggested.

"Peeping into the bathhouse is about as shameless as you can possibly get," Momoe said.

"I said I didn't peep!" Sho argued.

"Everyone's out here together, so what's the commotion?" the four students heard a female voice say and the three girls turned around to see Ayukawa Emi walking into the room wearing a bath robe, surprising the girls until Asuka thought of a plan.

"Momoe… Junko…" Asuka said as she glanced at her two friends, who understood what Asuka wanted them to do.

Momoe and Junko pushed Sho down and sat on his back while Asuka sat on his head in an attempt to hide the boy.

"Did something happen?" Emi asked.

"Y-You're heavy…" Sho said, unable to breathe from the combined weight of the three girls on top of him.

"Rude, aren't you?" Junko asked the blue-haired boy.

"Just keep quiet," Momoe said.

"No, nothing at all. Sorry for making so much noise," Asuka told the dorm leader.

"I see. Well then, you should all return to your rooms and get some sleep," Emi told the girls before leaving the room.

When they were sure Emi was gone, the three girls got off of Sho.

"Asuka-_san_," Junko said, wondering what Asuka was planning since she didn't turn Sho in.

"I have a little plan in mind," Asuka said before crossing her arms. "Someone had intended on calling out Yuki Judai under my name and set him up as a pervert." '_Isn't this interesting? I knew I would have to do battle with him sooner or later._'

* * *

At the Osiris dorm, sitting in his room, Judai was currently doing every boy's favorite pastime: playing video games.

"Take that, and that, and that!" Judai muttered as he mashed buttons on the hand-held game, until his Personal planner started to ring, prompting Judai to put down the game and pick up the PDA-like device and playing the message, which showed a static screen.

"We have Marufuji Sho. If you want him back, come to the girls' dorm," the message said in a squeaky voice.

"What's this?" Judai wondered.

Wanting to figure out what was going on, and to help Sho, Judai grabbed his deck and Duel Disk and ran out of his room and down the stairs, the noise earning the attention of Takeo.

"Huh? Now what's going on?" Takeo asked as he stood up and walked towards the door before opening it enough to stick his head out when he saw Judai. "Judai? What's going on?"

"Hm?" Judai wondered and turned around to see Takeo looking out the door. "I'm heading to the girls' dorm."

"Eh? What for?" Takeo asked.

"Sho's in trouble by the looks of it and I have to find out why," Judai answered.

"Sho? Hang on and I'll come with you," Takeo said before going back into his room.

"_I see something eventful has happened,_" _Psychic Emperor_ said, having not been returned to his card yet.

"Looks that way. Sorry old man, but you have to get back into your card," Takeo said.

"_Very well then,_" the old monster said as Takeo pulled the card off his Duel Disk, causing _Psychic Emperor_ to disappear as the Psycho Duelist grabbed the rest of his deck before heading out with Judai.

"So do you know who left the message?" Takeo asked.

"No, the voice was too squeaky," Judai answered.

"Then I'm guessing they used a voice modifier. They don't want you to know who it is until you get there," Takeo figured.

"Then let's get going," Judai said as the two boys ran towards the lake.

Once the two of them reached the lake and Judai grabbed a spare rowboat, Takeo felt something in his head and just stood there.

"Huh? What's wrong, Takeo? Not getting in?" Judai asked.

"Sorry Judai, but I think this is something you need to handle on your own," Takeo said.

"Uh… okay," Judai said, wondering why Takeo followed him if he wasn't going to go to the dorm.

The brunette then climbed into the boat and started to row across the lake. Once Judai was out of earshot, Takeo looked around.

"You can come out now," Takeo said.

From behind a group of trees walked out Hikari with her Duel Disk on her left wrist.

"How did you know I was here?" Hikari asked.

"Just a feeling. So, what do you want?" Takeo asked.

"I've thought about what you told me," Hikari answered.

"And?" Takeo questioned, wondering if there was more she wanted to say.

"I want to duel you again," Hikari said as she lifted her Duel Disk, activating it as the board shot out while Takeo just smirked.

"If that's what you want, I won't object," Takeo said as he activated his own Duel Disk before both duelists shuffled their respective decks and pushed them into their Disks.

"Duel!" both of them shouted while drawing their first five cards.

Hikari: 4000

Takeo: 4000

'_I still can't read her mind. If anything I think it's harder to read her than it was yesterday,_' Takeo thought to himself. '_Looks like this time around could go either way._'

"I'll give you the first turn!" Hikari offered.

"Alright then, I draw!" Takeo said as he drew his sixth card. '_Not much I can do with these right now._' "I summon _Cabalist_ in Defense mode!"

As Takeo played his card, what looked like a short, purple-skinned scientist wearing a large helmet covered in lightbulbs appeared. (1/100/100)

"Turn end," Takeo said.

Takeo's hand: 5

'_It must have some kind off effect if he's even willing to play it as his first card,_' Hikari thought to herself as she pulled her sixth card. "My turn. Draw!"

Hikari then scanned her hand for something that she can use against Takeo.

'_I can beat his monster with any monster in my hand, but I have to be careful of what he plays next,_' Hikari mentally noted until she saw a perfect opportunity. "From my hand, I activate the Monster effect of _Hecatrice_! By discarding it from my hand to the Cemetery, I can add one _Castle Of The Gods – Valhalla_ from my deck to my hand!"

Takeo was surprised by this move as Hikari sent her monster to the Cemetery, pulled out her deck and added the selected card to her hand before shuffling her deck and putting it back.

"Now, from my hand, I'll play the Permanent Magic card, _Castle Of The Gods – Valhalla_!" Hikari announced as she played the card, which turned the field into some kind of ancient throne room with a stone throne behind her. "With this card in play, I can special-summon an Angel-Type monster from my hand once per turn while I control no monsters! So I'll special-summon _Gellenduo_ in Defense mode!"

As Hikari played her card, the double monster that she had used against Takeo last time had appeared on the field. (4/1700/0)

'_That monster again. She'll probably summon _The Splendid Venus_ again or another powerful monster,_' Takeo thought to himself.

"Next I'll summon _Freya, Guide To Victory_ in Attack mode!" Hikari announced as she played her next card.

The next monster to appear was a young girl sporting a purple and black uniform. She also had semi-long purple hair, orange halos around her wrists and ankles, and held two red pompoms. (1/100/100) The appearance of this monster surprised Takeo as he was expecting one of her more powerful cards.

"As long as my _Guide To Victory_ is on the field, all Angel-Type monsters I control gain 400 ATK and DEF," Hikari explained as both her monsters grew a little stronger. (4/1700-2100/0-400) (1/100-500/100-500) "Not only that, but as long as I control at least one other Angel-Type monster, _Freya_ can't be selected as an attack target."

'_So she's trying to set up a defense since _Gellenduo_ can't be destroyed by battle and destroys itself when she takes damage,_' Takeo figured out.

"Now my _Guide To Victory_ will attack your monster!" Hikari announced, to which her monster started to perform poses like a cheerleader before throwing her pompoms at _Cabalist_, which exploded on contact and destroyed the scientist.

"I activate _Cabalist_'s Monster effect! When he's destroyed by battle, I can add any Psychic-Type monster from my deck to my hand at the cost of 800 Life!" Takeo explained as his Life Points lowered while he pulled out his deck and searched. "And I choose my _Krebons_!"

'_That's the monster that can negate attacks towards itself by paying Life Points,_' Hikari mentally noted as she remembered back to the entrance exam. "Turn end."

Hikari: 4000

Takeo: 3200

Hikari's hand: 3

"My turn. Draw!" Takeo said as he pulled his next card. "From my hand, I play the Permanent Magic card, _Teleport_!"

As Takeo played his card, the artwork showed _Power Injector_ slowly fading out.

"With this card, as long as my opponent controls at least one monster while I control none, I can pay 800 Life to special-summon any Psychic-Type monster from my hand," Takeo said, surprising Hikari as he nearly matched her move with her _Valhalla_ card. "And I'll pay the 800 Life to special-summon _Krebons_ in Attack mode!"

As Takeo played his card, the jester-looking monster from his exam appeared on the field. (2/1200/800)

Hikari: 4000

Takeo: 2400

"Now I'll summon my _Mental Protector_ in Defense mode!" Takeo said as a yellow machine-looking monster appeared, and it looked like the monster shown on both the _Emergency Teleport_ and _Psycho Tune_ cards he had played before. (3/0/2200) "_Mental Protector_'s Monster effect requires me to pay 500 Life during each of my Standby Phases to keep him on the field, but he also prevents any and all monsters with 2000 or less ATK from attacking, with the exception of Psychic-Type monsters. However, he won't be staying long enough…"

At the end of his sentence, Takeo's monsters flew up into the air, _Krebons_ turning into two greens discs as _Mental Protector_ faded to reveal three white stars.

"Waves flowing through the mind, restorative power set. The collective gather to restore The One," Takeo chanted as a burst of light shot through the discs and engulfed the stars. "Synchro Summon! _Magical Android_!"

The next monster to appear is another that Hikari had recognized, as the monster was on the artwork of Takeo's _Psycho Healing_ Trap card. The monster was a woman garbed in a strange set of robes and carried a bladed staff in her left hand and a shield in her right. (5/2400/1700)

"I'll then set one card," Takeo said as he pushed a card into his Duel Disk, causing a reversed card to appear on the field. "And during my End Phase, _Magical Android_'s Monster effect activates, restoring my Life Points by 600 for each Psychic-Type monster on the field."

_Magical Android_ released a wave of energy onto Takeo's side of the field, raising his Life Points.

Hikari: 4000

Takeo: 3000

Takeo's hand: 2

"My turn then. Draw!" Hikari said as she pulled her next card, but Takeo pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"Reverse card, open!" Takeo announced as his facedown card rose, the artwork showing _Mental Master_ holding a strange-looking gun as it hooked up to him. "_Psycho Trigger_! This card can only be activated while my Life Points are lower than my opponents' and lets me draw two cards as long as I remove two Psychic-Type monsters in my Cemetery from play, so I'll remove my _Mental Protector_ and my _Cabalist_."

The two cards ejected from Takeo's Cemetery slot as he put them into his pocket before drawing two cards from his deck.

Takeo's hand: 4

"From my hand, I play the Permanent Magic card, _Court Of Justice_!" Hikari announced as she played her card, the artwork showing two small winged Angel-Type monsters flying around a large gold ring as it shot a beam of light downward. "With this card on the field, as long as I control a Level-1 Angel-Type monster, I can special-summon an Angel-Type monster from my hand once per turn! And since _Freya, Guide To Victory_ is on the field, I'll special-summon _Tethys, Goddess Of Light_ in Attack mode!"

As Hikari played her next card, the next monster to appear was a female Angel-Type monster wearing a white dress adorned with pieces of gold and several small jewels as well as a pair of white wings that weren't attached to her back floated behind her. (5/2400/1800)

"And with _Freya_'s effect, _Tethys_ gains 400 ATK points!" Hikari stated as her new monster grew stronger. (5/2400-2800/1800-2200) "_Tethys_, attack his _Magical Android_!"

The Angel-Type monster complied by holding her hands in front of herself and releasing a beam of light at the Psychic-Type monster, piercing through her and destroying her.

Hikari: 4000

Takeo: 2600

"And now _Freya_ will attack directly!" Hikari declared as her monster made some more cheerleading poses before throwing her pompoms at Takeo. "Turn end!"

Hikari: 4000

Takeo: 2100

Hikari's hand: 2

"My turn. Draw!" Takeo said as he pulled his next card, a smirk appearing on his face as he looked at it. "I play the Permanent Magic card, _Spell Economics_!"

As Takeo played his card, the artwork showed a strange-looking abacus and book with a pen laying between them, the book of which having something written in it while the three materials appeared on Takeo's field.

"As long as this card is on the field, I no longer have to pay Life Points to activate Magic cards," Takeo explained. "So with the effect of _Spell Economics_ to not pay Life Points, I'll activate _Teleport _to special-summon _Teleki Attacker_ in Attack mode!"

As Takeo played his next card, beads from the abacus moved while the pen wrote in the book while a monster wearing a black and red jumpsuit and a helmet appeared on the field with electricity surrounding him. (4/1700/700)

"And now I'll release _Teleki Attacker_ to summon _Max Teleporter_ in Attack mode!" Takeo announced as his monster disappeared in a vortex before the vortex shifted and formed a young man wearing a blue trenchcoat with strange designs and purple hair while the top half of his face was hidden behind a green mask. (6/2100/1200) "Now for _Max Teleporter_'s Monster effect! By paying 2000 Life Points I can special-summon up to two Level-3 Psychic-Type monsters from my deck!"

'_2000 Life Points? But that's half of the starting Life Points,_' Hikari thought to herself, surprised to see a monster, let alone a card, require such a high cost for its effect.

"So I'll pay the 2000 Life Points so I can special-summon _Psycho Commander_ from my deck!" Takeo stated as he pulled out his deck as _Max Teleporter_ drained most of what remained of his Life Points.

Hikari: 4000

Takeo: 100

Once Takeo found his monster, he played it on the field before shuffling his deck and putting it back, the tank-driving Psychic-Type monster appearing on the field. (3/1400/800)

"And now I'll tune my Level-6 _Max Teleporter_ with my Level-3 _Psycho Commander_!" Takeo announced as his two monsters flew into the air. "Telepathic waves, deceiving my foes. Bring me strength, and with strength, victory."

As _Psycho Commander_ turned into three green discs with _Max Teleporter_ turning into six white stars lining up inside the discs, a burst of light engulfed them.

"Synchro Summon!" Takeo called out as the light slowly faded. "_Hyper Psycho Gunner_!"

At the end of the chant, the monster that appeared was the armored Psychic-Type that Takeo had used to clench his victory for his entrance exam. (9/3000/2500)

"_Hyper Psycho Gunner_'s Monster effect, when he attacks an opponent's Defense position monster that has less DEF than his ATK, the difference is dealt to the opponent as battle damage," Takeo said, surprising Hikari before she turned her attention to her _Gellenduo_. "_Hyper Psycho Gunner_, attack _Gellenduo_! **Psycho Shots!**"

The armored Psychic-Type monster raised its two guns and simultaneously pulled the triggers, a burst of energy releasing from both guns and piercing both life forms before striking Hikari, causing the two life forms to self-destruct by their own effect due to her taking damage.

Hikari: 1400

Takeo: 100

"_Hyper Psycho Gunner_'s second Monster effect, when he attacks a Defense position monster with less DEF than his ATK, the difference is added to my Life Points," Takeo stated, once again shocking Hikari as his Life Points jumped.

Hikari: 1400

Takeo: 2700

"Turn end," Takeo said.

Takeo's hand: 3

"My turn. Draw!" Hikari said as she pulled her next card. "_Tethys, Goddess Of Light_'s Monster effect! If I draw an Angel-Type monster, I can reveal it to draw another card from my deck. And the card I drew was _Shine Angel_!"

Hikari revealed her card to indeed be _Shine Angel_ so not to be accused of cheating before drawing again. She grinned when she saw the card he had drawn.

"With the effect of _Court Of Justice_, I special-summon _The Splendid Venus_ in Attack mode!" Hikari announced as she played her card, causing the Planet series monster to reappear, its ATK and DEF boosted by _Freya_'s effect. (8/2800-3200/2400-2800) "And in case you forgot _Venus_' Monster effect, she makes all non-Angel-Type monsters lose 500 ATK and DEF!"

Takeo glared a little as his strongest monster weakened. (9/3000-2500/2500-2000)

"Now I'll have _The Splendid Venus_ attack your _Hyper Psycho Gunner_!" Hikari declared as her monster spread her wings and released a blinding flash of light that destroyed _Hyper Psycho Gunner_ and lowered Takeo's Life Points.

Hikari: 1400

Takeo: 2200

"Now _Tethys, Goddess Of Light_ will attack directly!" Hikari stated as her monster released the beam of light, piercing through Takeo's chest and depleting his Life Points.

Hikari: 1400 (winner)

Takeo: 0

As Hikari's three monsters and the four Magic cards on the field vanished, Takeo walked up to Hikari.

"Did you find out what you needed to?" Takeo asked, to which Hikari nodded.

"I'm convinced you didn't cheat. I'm sorry for making a false accusation," Hikari apologized with a bow.

"As long as it doesn't happen again. But at least now I won't have you hunting me down," Takeo said, accepting her apology. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should be getting back to my dorm."

Once again, Hikari watched Takeo walk off, a little surprised that Takeo handled the loss so well and even more surprised that she managed to beat such a deck. But smiling to herself, Hikari walked back towards the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm.

* * *

At the same time that Takeo's duel started, however, Judai had arrived at the girls' dorm only to meet a tied-up Sho with Asuka, Momoe and Junko.

"_Aniki_…" Sho whined at his predicament.

"Sho, what's going on here?" Judai asked.

"Well… if I told you, it'd either be a very long story or a very short story…" Sho somewhat answered.

"He was peeping into the girls' bathhouse!" Junko accused.

"What'd you say?" Judai asked, not believing his ears.

"I said I didn't peep!" Sho argued before growling as Junko.

"If the academy finds out about it, he'll definitely get expelled," Momoe stated.

"Hey, you. Want to duel with me?" Asuka challenged Judai. "If you defeat me, I'll look past this whole "peeping in the bathhouse" incident."

"But I'm telling you, I didn't peep!" Sho continued to argue, but Judai just hit his right fist into his left palm.

"I don't know what's quite going on, but whatever. I accept your duel!" Judai said with a grin on his face.

With Asuka's challenged accepted, the five students took two boats, Momoe and Junko in one boat with Asuka as Sho took a boat with Judai. The two groups rowed to the center of the lake, not knowing that there duel was being watched.

"This has turned into a somewhat interesting event," Chronos mused as he watched from in the lake.

"Here I go!" Asuka shouted as she activated her Duel Disk and drew her starting five cards.

"Sure! Bring it!" Judai shouted back as he did the same.

"Duel!"

Asuka: 4000

Judai: 4000

"_Aniki_…" Sho muttered, worried for Judai.

"It's my turn! Draw!" Asuka announced, taking the first turn as she drew her sixth card before scanning her hand. "I summon _Etoile Cyber_!"

As Asuka played her card, a blue and red skinned ballerina with long brown hair a wearing a tutu appeared on the field. (4/1200/1600)

"Then, I'll set one card to end my turn," Asuka said as she pushed a card into her Duel Disk, a reversed card appearing behind her monster.

Asuka's hand: 4

"Next up's my turn! Draw!" Judai said as he pulled his next card and looked through his hand. '_All right!_' "I summon _Elemental Hero Sparkman_!"

As Judai played his card, the electric hero from his duel with Manjoume appeared. (4/1600/1400)

"With _Sparkman_, I attack _Etoile Cyber_!" Judai declared as his monster raised its left hand and fired a burst of electricity.

'_Are you telling me he's completely ignoring my reverse card?_' Asuka thought to herself as she grit her teeth at Judai's ignorance. "Reverse card, open!I activate _Doble Passé_!"

As the card rose, the artwork showed a ballerina dancing in the center of the stage with three spotlights shining on her. This caused _Sparkman_'s attack to stop inches in front of _Etoile Cyber_ and arc around her before striking Asuka.

"What?" Judai wondered why Asuka would take a direct attack and even how it happened.

"_Doble Passé_ changes an opponent's attack to a direct attack on the player. And then, the monster targeted by the attack can attack the opponent directly!" Asuka explained as her Life Points dropped. "_Etoile Cyber_'s special effect… When it attack directly, its ATK goes up by 600!"

Asuka: 2400

Judai: 4000

As Asuka's ballerina monster danced across the water towards Judai, the monster's power grew. (4/1200-1800/1600) _Etoile Cyber_ then delivered a swift kick across Judai's chest before returning to Asuka's side of the field.

Asuka: 2400

Judai: 2200

"_Aniki_!" Sho said in concern as Judai dropped to one knee.

"What a woman," Judai muttered as he got back to his feet. "To think she'd set up this trap, yet not even card about taking damage herself…"

"What's the matter? Are you done already?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah, my turn's finished," Judai answered.

Judai's hand: 5

"I won't have to hesitate to go on, then. It's my turn. Draw!" Asuka said as she pulled her next card and looked at it. "I summon _Blade Skater_!"

The next monster to appear on Asuka's field was a bald woman with pink and purple skin. Attached to her forearms were large blades as ice skates were on the soles of her feet. Like _Etoile Cyber_, _Blade Skater_ wore a tutu. (4/1400/1500)

"And then, the Magic card, _Fusion_! I fuse _Etoile Cyber_ and _Blade Skater_ together to summon _Cyber Blader_!" Asuka announced as she played the Magic card.

Asuka's two monsters skated across the water before meeting up and disappearing in a whirlwind. When the wind died down, both monsters disappeared and a new monster with purple and red skin, long blue hair and wearing a tutu and a red visor with ice skates on the soles of her feet appeared. (7/2100/800)

"Here I go! With _Cyber Blader_, I attack _Sparkman_!" Asuka declared as her monster started to spin on top of the water, drawing closer to _Sparkman_ before sticking out a leg and slicing right through the hero.

Asuka: 2400

Judai: 1700

"Shit… she got me!" Judai muttered after bracing himself from the attack.

"No less from our Asuka! You're magnificent!" Momoe cheered.

"Keep it up and pummel this guy into dust!" Junko applauded.

"Don't lose, _aniki_! Do your best!" Sho cheered for Judai.

"You've got some nerve!" Junko shouted to Sho.

"Uh, well, not really…" Sho said, now feeling a little nervous.

"Want to try swimming in the lake naked?" Momoe asked tauntingly.

"That's sexual harassment!" Sho argued.

"What are you talking about?" Momoe asked. "A peeping tom doesn't have any right to say something like that!"

"I _didn't_ peep, darn it!" Sho continued to argue.

"I'm not finished just yet!" Judai said, not backing down from the duel as he drew his next card. "My turn! Draw!"

Asuka's hand: 4

'_All right. I'll use this…_' Judai mentally said as he looked at the card he drew. "I activate the Field Magic, _Fusion Gate_! This can summon a Fusion Monster without a Fusion card! I'll fuse _Featherman_ and _Burstlady_ together to summon _Flame Wingman_!"

Judai revealed the two monsters in his hand, causing them to appear on the field before he put the cards in his pocket as the Field Magic required the materials to be removed from play, to which the two monsters disappeared only to be replaced by the dragonic Fusion Monster. (6/2100/1200)

"Impressive. To see me summon a Fusion Monster, and fight back with a Fusion Monster like that without a moment's delay…" Asuka said. "But still… They both have the same ATK. They'll kill each other off like this, won't they?"

"Not really!" Judai answered with a laugh. "Next, I activate the Permanent Magic, _Chivalrous Spirit_!"

As Judai played his card, the artwork showed the _Knight_ from the _Knight Of White Dragon_ monster with an aura surrounding him.

"Now, my monster won't be destroyed by a monster with an equal ATK!" Judai stated. "But that's not all. Once _Flame Wingman_ destroyed _Cyber Blader_, its special effect'll deal 2100 points of damage, which is equal to _Cyber Blader_'s ATK, to you. Go, _Flame Wingman_! Attack her _Cyber Blader_!"

In compliance, _Flame Wingman_ dashed across the water.

'_You're the naïve one here…_' Asuka mentally said with a smirk on her face.

As _Flame Wingman_ drew nearer to _Cyber Blader_, a ball of fire formed in the mouth of his dragon arm. Once close enough, the _Elemental Hero_ thrust its arm forward, but _Cyber Blader_ held out her arms to block the attack, which somehow worked as the fireball faded and _Flame Wingman_ backed away.

"What? Why wasn't it destroyed?" Judai asked, wondering why _Cyber Blader_ was still on the field.

"_Pas de Duex_…" Asuka somewhat explained. "_Cyber Blader_'s special effect… If my opponent only has one monster, it can't be destroyed in battle."

"What was that? Then, for this turn…" Judai said, figuring out his attack was pointless.

"That's right. It means that neither of us take damage," Asuka answered.

"My turn's finished!" Judai said, finding nothing else to do.

"Honestly, you just have a weak endgame. It's my turn. Draw," Asuka said in a disappointed tone as she pulled her next card and looked at it before smirking. "Playtime is over. The Equip Magic, _Fusion Weapon_! And I equip it to _Cyber Blader_!"

As Asuka played her card, the artwork showed _Black Flame Knight –Black Flare Knight-_, but a three-pronged laser cannon replaced his right arm. And as with the monster on the artwork, _Cyber Blader_'s right hand morphed into a three-pronged cannon. (7/2100-3600/800-2300)

"Amazing! Its ATK suddenly jumped to 3600!" Judai said with excitement in his voice.

"Brace yourself! With _Cyber Blader_, I attack _Flame Wingman_!" Asuka declared as her monster aimed her new weapon before firing a blast of green energy that temporarily stunned _Flame Wingman_ before causing him to explode while Judai did indeed brace himself.

Asuka: 2400

Judai: 200

"You got ahead of yourself just because you beat Professor Chronos. The very thought of a couple of Osiris Reds trying to beat us Obelisk Blues is, after all, extremely arrogant," Junko taunted.

"Sorry to break it to you, but you're as good as expelled!" Momoe said as Junko flashed a victory sign.

"I don't care what happens to me since I haven't done anything wrong, but… I won't let you get away with treating my _aniki_, who came to save me, like a fool!" Sho shouted to the girls. "Don't lose, _aniki_."

"Yeah, of course. Don't worry about it, Sho," Judai agreed.

'_What possible good can he do with his mere 200 points left?_' Asuka mentally asked herself.

'_I don't have any monsters on my field. All I have is my lone _Fusion Gate_, a Field Magic. But I've got one way to win this, and I've got one chance. My next draw will decide everything._' "My turn! Draw!" Judai said as he pulled his next card before looking at it. "Here it is! Here goes! I summon _Elemental Hero Clayman_!"

As Judai played his card, the stone hero made his appearance in this battle. (4/800/2000)

"Then, I activate the Magic card, _Resurrection Of The Dead_!" Judai said as he showed the glowing green ankh. "From my Cemetery, I special-summon _Sparkman_!"

From the card, Judai's electric hero reappeared on the field. (4/1600/1400)

"Just what do you plan on doing? No matter how many of those weak-ATK monsters you play, they won't beat my _Cyber Blader_," Asuka stated.

"Next, with the effect of my Field Magic, _Fusion Gate_, I'll fuse both _Sparkman_ and _Clayman_ together…" Judai said as he pulled the cards from his Duel Disk and put them in his pocket while the two monsters started spinning around back-to-back before disappearing in a flash of light that shot up into the sky. "…to summon _Elemental Hero Thunder Giant_!"

"Field Magics… Magic cards that give the entire field a special effect while they're out on the field," Sho said, answering Chronos' question from earlier in the day as Judai's new monster, a giant wearing yellow armor with a blue orb of electricity in his chest and wearing a white and blue helmet appeared. (6/2400/1500)

"So what?" Asuka asked, completely unimpressed by the new monster. "My _Cyber Blader_ has an ATK of 3600. Don't you know that?"

"Yeah, of course I know. _Thunder Giant_ is able to destroy a monster with an original ATK lower than its own," Judai explained.

"Original ATK…" Asuka repeated.

"And before it was powered up by your Equip Magic, your _Cyber Blader_'s ATK was…" Judai said, waiting for Asuka to finish the sentence.

"2-2100 points…" Asuka finished as she realized what was about to happen. "It's lower than _Thunder Giant_'s…"

"That's right. Let's finish this in one attack! I activate _Thunder Giant_'s special effect! I destroy _Cyber Blader_!" Judai announced as his monster hovered across the water towards _Cyber Blader_ before raising his right arm and releasing a torrent of electricity that destroyed the figure skater. "And then, a direct attack on the opposing player! **Voltic Thunder!**"

This time _Thunder Giant_ held out both his arms before releasing a blast of electricity at Asuka, striking her and depleting her Life Points as a stray spark traveled along the water and struck Chronos.

Asuka: 0

Judai: 200 (winner)

"Asuka-_san_!" Junko said as Asuka knelt down from the attack.

"Will you be all right?" Momoe asked.

"You did it!" Sho cheered as Judai pointed his right index and middle finger towards Asuka.

"Gotcha! That sure was a fun duel!" Judai said.

Both group then rowed their boats closer to each other once everyone calmed down from the duel.

"Sho will be coming back with me, just like we agreed," Judai said, making sure Asuka would keep to her end of the deal.

"Go right ahead. I'll keep our agreement," Asuka assured him. "And I'll keep quiet about what happened today."

"Humph! You shouldn't get too ahead of yourself, since you won by a fluke!" Junko told Judai.

"Quit it, Junko," Asuka warned her friend.

"Asuka-_san_…" Junko said, wondering why Asuka was defending an Osiris.

"A loss is a loss, so don't be such a poor sport about it," Asuka explained.

"No, maybe she's right," Judai said, earning Asuka's attention. "You're strong."

Asuka's eyes widened in surprise at Judai's comment as he and Sho sat down in their boat.

"See you," Judai said before he started rowing back towards the Osiris Dorm.

'_That guy might be getting more and more interesting…_' Asuka mentally noted as she watched Judai row away and a small smile crept across her lips.

'_Asuka-san is different today than she usually is…_' Junko thought to herself as she looked at her friend and a possible explanation popped into her head. '_Don't tell me…_'

As Judai rowed away, Professor Chronos swam back to the surface after the shock from _Thunder Giant_'s attack caused him to sink a little.

"Yuki Judai! Next time, I will bring you down a peg or two, without fail!" Chronos swore to himself. "But I'm tired today…"

Professor Chronos then swam back towards the Obelisk Blue boys' dorm for the end of the day.

**

* * *

A/N: And that's it for the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed Takeo's rematch with Hikari. Also, the reason why I didn't use the translated name for _Spell Economics_ is because it's really long (translated name: _The Art Of Not Wasting Magical Power_).**

**Next time: The monthly promotion exams are here, pitting students of the same dorm against each other to see who moves up to the next dorm based on skill and strategy. But what's this? Judai's dueling Manjoume? And how did Manjoume get so many rare cards? Does Judai stand a chance? Stay tuned to find out.**

**Attention readers/reviewers: At this point in time, I am accepting OCs for my story. I will require at least 2 OCs for the future (one of which will be a Shadow Rider, or member of the "Seven Stars" as the Japanese version has them). To enter your OCs, please send them to me through a message (as reviews turn out shorter and I'd rather not have numbers be cut off). To submit your character (only ONE character per person), please use the following guidelines:**

**Name: (Your characters' name MUST be Japanese, so type in the name with the last name first and first name last, as is tradition in Japan)  
Nationality: (If your character isn't from Japan, please list why/how they were transfered to Duel Academia. You also won't need to use a Japanese name if your character isn't from Japan)  
Personality: (basically the attitude and mannerisms your character has. This should also affect your characters' deck like how all the characters in GX have a deck built around themselves, like the how "Tyranno Hassblebarry" uses a Dinosaur deck and wears a Dinosaur bandana and even has a bone in his left leg replaced with a dinosaur fossil)  
Appearance: (hair style/color, eye color, facial features (this can range from anywhere between scars, scratches, wrap bandages, etc) and may have a connection to the personality)  
Dorm: (Osiris Red, Ra Yellow or Obelisk Blue) (You character is placed in each dorm depending on what exam they took. Middle School exam leads to Obelisk Blue, High School exam leads to Ra Yellow and applying for an exam after becoming a dropout leads you to Osiris Red)  
Deck: (type/archetype/attribute/etc, basically what your deck is built around. If anyone wants to submit a self-made deck (as in with self-created cards), please send them to me in separate messages. If I've already seen your self-created deck from somewhere, you do not have to send me the card lists.)**

**Self-created card set-up (how typing up a self-created card should look):  
Name Of Card  
Card Level (number of stars)(Monster cards only)  
ATTRIBUTE (monster cards only. List as specified Spell or Trap card)  
Type (also put in whether the monster is a Fusion, Ritual or Effect monster. I will NOT be accepting Synchro or Tuner monsters)  
ATK: (monster cards only)  
DEF: (monster cards only)  
Effect: (list effect of monster, spell or trap card. If the monster is a Fusion Monster, list what monsters must be used as Fusion Material)**

**Please R&R, everyone!**


	4. Turn 4

**A/N: Hey, everyone! Welcome back to the next chapter of Duel Academia Psychosis! Sorry this one was a bit late, but a lot of things were keeping me from working on it. Anyway, this time we get to meet a new OC. Not really much to say, so let's get this chapter started!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise or its characters! I DO, however, own my two OCs Ikeda Takeo and Sakamoto Hikari and now introducing Seta Takuto, owned by my friend The Duelist Of Dawn!**

**

* * *

**

**-Turn 4-**

At Duel Academia, the days following Judai's duel against Asuka and Takeo's rematch against Hikari moved by quickly and without incident until the end of the month. On route to Duel Academia was a small naval force and a fleet of helicopters.

"Aerial Escort 2260 Eagle, here," said a man from in one of the helicopters over a radio. "We'll be converging with them in three minutes."

"Roger, Eagle," another man's voice said over the radio. "The main ship has acquired the target in visual range. 8030, preparing to land."

"All ships re-enter alert status! We must protect this…" A man from inside one of the ship announced over the radio as he held a briefcase with the Duel Academia logo on it in his hand while a set of handcuffs were connected to the handle and his wrist. "…no matter what! Prepare for landing!"

With the order, all of the ships and helicopters were making their preparations to land at the island of Duel Academia.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the island at the Osiris Red dorm, Judai was still asleep and snoring loudly while Sho, with a white headband tied around his head and three copies of the _Resurrection Of The Dead_ card held against his forehead while a fourth copy was placed on a miniature altar underneath a poster of _The Sky Dragon Of Osiris_ and a lit candle on each side of the poster, was praying.

"I beseech thee… O Duel God, depending on how I score on today's monthly test, I can get promoted from Osiris Red to Ra Yellow! This is sure to be my… _Resurrection Of The Dead_! Please save poor Sho from the Cemetery! I beg of you, please!" Sho prayed, but nearly jumped out of his skin as Judai's alarm clock, which was laying right next to the brunette's head, started ringing, causing Sho to turn around in his chair after calming down. "Oh, it's just the alarm clock…"

Sho then got out of the chair and walked up to his sleeping friend.

"But Judai-_no-aniki_ sure is relaxed… He doesn't do any studying for the test, comes back to the dorm and just sleeps away," Sho said to himself before placing a hand on Judai's shoulder and tried shaking him awake. "_Aniki_, you're gonna be late for the test! _Aniki_!"

"My turn! Draw!" Judai shouted in his sleep as he turned over and unknowingly punched Sho in the face, sending the smaller Osiris to the floor.

"Geez! Your turn's over!" Sho said as he pushed himself up. "I said you're gonna be late for the test!"

"Sho, you're way too soft," Hayato said as he looked down from his top bunk, earning the blue-haired Osiris' attention. "The test has you compete in your own dorm in both a practical and written portion. That means all the members of Osiris Red are your enemy."

"N-No way… my enemy?" Sho repeated, a little shocked at the information.

"And since he beat Chronos-_sensei_, Judai's especially closest to Ra Yellow out of all the Osiris Reds here," Hayato explained. "If we just leave him be and don't wake him up, we'll gain ourselves an advantage."

"I couldn't possibly do that to my _aniki_ as his little bro!" Sho argued before trying to shake Judai out of his slumber again. "_Aniki_! Wake up, _aniki_! The test is gonna start, _aniki_! _Aniki_, darn it! _Aniki_!"

But when Judai still refused to budge, Sho got to his feet, pulled off the paper headband that was around his head and ran out the door as Hayato watched. But as Sho ran down the stairs, the sound managed to wake up Takeo, causing the Psycho Duelist to climb out of bed.

"What's with all that racket?" Takeo asked himself as he walked to the door and opened it to see Sho running towards the main building. "Where the hell is he off to in such a hurry?"

To find the answer, Takeo briefly scanned Sho's mind before a small scowl appeared on the Psycho Duelist's face.

"Right, the exam. I guess I'll wait a bit longer," Takeo muttered to himself before shutting his door.

'_That's right. This is a duelist's battlefield,_' Sho mentally told himself as he ran towards the main building. '_I have to beat them before they beat me! I'm trying to be a hard-boiled duelist!_'

Unfortunately, Sho managed to trip over himself and fall face-first into the pavement. But after pushing himself back up, he ran right into the building.

* * *

Several minutes had passed before Takeo decided it was time for him to get to the test room.

"Alright, let's see here… Deck, check. Duel Disk, check," Takeo checked off, making sure his deck was in its holder on his waist and his Duel Disk firmly attached to his wrist. "That's really all I need though isn't it. Oh well."

Takeo then opened his door and started walking out, but once he got past the stairs, someone had run right over him!

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Takeo shouted.

"_G-gomen_," Takeo heard a familiar voice apologize before feeling the person's weight move off him. "Eh? Takeo? Why are you still here?"

"I just thought I'd stay behind a little longer for last-minute preparations," Takeo answered as he pushed himself up and dusted himself off. "What about you, Judai?"

"Uh, well… I overslept," Judai answered as he scratched the back of his head before noticed Takeo had his Duel Disk on his arm. "You take that thing with you everywhere, don't you."

"What's it to you?" Takeo asked before the two Osiris students heard the bell ring.

"Oh man, we're so late!" Judai shouted before running off towards the main building at full speed with Takeo right behind him. "You sure seem relaxed even though we'll be late!"

"Why shouldn't I be? I'm prepared for this test," Takeo answered as the two of them ran, but barely noticed the old woman trying to push her van up a hill when Judai suddenly skid to a halt and causing Takeo to do the same as they both looked back at the lady and her van before Judai grabbed his head and groaned.

"I'm a sucker for situations like this!" Judai berated himself before running back to help the old woman.

"What are you doing? We'll end up getting there later than we should be!" Takeo shouted after the brunette.

"I can't help it, it's just in my nature!" Judai shouted back before Takeo let out an irritated sigh.

"I can already tell this is going to be more trouble than it's worth," Takeo said as he ran after Judai and the two of them ran behind the van and started to push.

"We'll give you a hand, old lady!" Judai said as both Osiris boys started pushing the back of the van as hard as they could.

"You'll be late! Don't you have a test today?" the woman asked in concern.

"We were going to be late anyway, so I guess this won't do us much harm," Takeo answered.

"We'll be able to handle it, so just leave this to us! Not going to leave an old lady to fend for herself, are we?" Judai said with a grin as the van slowly moved up the hill.

"Thanks a bunch!" the woman said.

"Don't mention it," Takeo assured the woman while, unknown to Judai or the woman, was using some of his psychic powers to make it easier to push the van.

* * *

"_Aniki_…" Sho muttered in his sleep as he covered his test paper. "_Aniki_… I'm sorry… _Aniki_…"

"Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!" a voice said loudly in Sho's ear, waking up the blue-haired Osiris, prompting him to turn to face whoever had woken him up only to see Judai and Takeo, who had just entered the room after helping the old woman with her vehicle. "There's no point in studying to the bone just to doze off, you jerk!"

"_A-Aniki_…" Sho said nervously.

"You're being a pest, Osiris Red! Shut your trap!" said a familiar voice, to which Sho, Judai and Takeo looked up to see Manjoume sitting two rows above them. "If you don't plan on taking the test, then beat it!"

"Quit joking around! I came all this way!" Judai shouted back. "You think I'm just gonna go back?"

"Then keep your mouth shut and let's get our papers already!" Takeo snarled as he grabbed the collar of Judai's blazer and dragged him down the stairs and up to Daitokuji-_sensei_'s desk while the other students watched with hateful glares.

'_H-He's mocking us…_' thought one of the other Osiris students.

'_Being thirty minutes late means they have no consideration for the written test,_' Asuka thought to herself.

'_How could they be so negligent and yet have such considerable skill?_' Misawa mentally asked himself.

'_How did a guy like him beat Professor Chronos?_' another Osiris student mentally seethed.

'_I didn't think anyone could disrespect the Academia so badly, but these two sure proved me wrong,_' Hikari mentally noted as Judai and Takeo ran back up the stairs to their seats after having received their tests.

While everyone was either finishing up their tests or struggling with them, Takeo managed to finish it and flipped it upside-down before leaning back in his seat for a nap. As for Judai and Sho, they were in the same boat as Takeo, except for finishing their test, but little did the two know that they were being watched.

"He finished _himself_ off on the written test, just as I suspected!" Professor Chronos mused to himself as he watched Judai from a crack in the door. "All that remains is the practical skills test…" '_I look forward to that!_'

Once the time for the test was over, Professor Daitokuji stood up from his seat.

"The written test has now ended! In addition, the practical skills test will take place in the gymnasium at 2:00 PM!" Daitokuji announced, prompting almost all the students to jump out of their seats and rush out the doors.

"Let's hurry!" Manjoume's glasses-wearing friend said to the black-haired Obelisk.

"We have to hurry up!" said Manjoume's spiky-haired friend.

"Yeah, I know," Manjoume said as his two buddies ran out of the classroom to follow the other students.

"Hey, you two! Wake up! The test is already over!" Misawa shouted at Sho and Judai, who were both still asleep, as the Ra student shook the blue-haired Osiris and causing his to jolt up.

"Now I've done it… why did I even study?" Sho berated himself as tears streamed down his face.

"Don't sweat it. The skills test this afternoon is where it counts," Judai said as he raised his head, a wide grin on his face.

"If that's all then I can already see some of us getting a passing grade," Takeo said, having walked up to his three "friends", though he doesn't consider them as such, after waking up from his nap, but then Sho looked around the room and noticed it was empty with the exception of the four of them.

"Huh? Where is everyone?" Sho asked.

"Is it lunchtime already?" Judai guessed, getting up from his seat.

"They're at the store," Misawa answered. "They're getting a large quantity of brand new rare cards during the lunch break, after all."

"H-Huh! A large shipment of cards?" Sho shouted in shock.

"Everybody went down there to buy some, trying to reinforce their decks for the practical skills test this afternoon," Misawa explained.

"W-What about you, Misawa-_kun_?" Sho asked the Ra student.

"I'm confident in my deck as it is. I don't need any new cards," Misawa answered.

"Same here, though mainly because I doubt there's any other cards I need to help my Psychics," Takeo added in.

"W-What about you, _aniki_?" Sho asked Judai as he turned to face the brunette.

"I'm… really interested!" Judai shouted with enthusiasm as another grin stretched across his face. "I've just _gotta_ see what kind of cards they've got! Let's go, Sho!"

"Mm-hmm!" Sho nodded in agreement as the two Osiris students ran out of the room.

"Well, I'm off to work on my deck. Would you like to join me, Takeo?" Misawa offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks. My deck doesn't need any work," Takeo said before turning around and heading out of the room and towards the gymnasium.

* * *

At the card shop, the shutter had been closed as students ran at it and started banging their fists against the steel.

"Open up! Open up!" the students shouted in anticipation. "Hurry up and show us the rare cards!"

All of a sudden, footsteps could be heard running down the hall and the students turned around to see what looked like military personnel.

"Who are they!" the students asked in unison.

"Step back! Step back!" the guards shouted as they surrounded the students and tried to pry them away from the shutters.

"What you guys want…" another voice said from the other end of the hall, causing the guards to back away and form a passage for a man wearing a white navy uniform and carrying a briefcase in his left hand. "…is right here!"

Once the man lifted the briefcase, the students started cheering and clapping before gladly moving aside for the man to get through. Once the man was at the shutters, he lifted them up enough for himself to get through before he turned to face the students.

"And we're selling them… right now," the man said as he pushed the shutters up all the way and walked in.

"At last, the rare cards are…" all the students shouted as the man placed the briefcase on a table and opened it, but then showed the students its contents were empty, minus a single slip of paper with the word "sold" on it and causing every last student to facefault. "…not here!"

"What's the meaning of this?" one of the students shouted after all of them got back to their feet, all of them now noticing someone wearing a black full-body trench coat and hat as well as a girl wearing a pink t-shirt and blue miniskirt with matching suspenders and hat.

"This person has purchased them all," the girl said as she pointed to the man standing next to her.

"This guy?" the students asked, curious how one person could've bought every last rare card.

"I have already paid the price in full," the man stated.

The students started to yell and curse at the man for his misdeed. However, the man merely chuckled and made his leave, forcing the students to purchase regular packs instead.

* * *

Some time after the students left, Judai and Sho were getting closer to the card shop.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Judai shouted as the two of them ran through the halls.

"Wait for me!" Sho shouted as he trailed behind, but they both stopped in the doorway of the card shop and noticed it was empty.

"What happened…?" Judai wondered.

"If no one's here…"

"…does that mean they've been bought already!" the two Osiris students asked each other before running towards the front counter.

"Granny! Granny!" Judai called to the woman behind the counter, but then noticed the "granny" was actually a young woman and so corrected himself when she glared at him. "Uh… _miss_. Where are the new cards?"

"Well, there were a lot of students here to buy cards…" the girl answered as she reached under the counter before placing a single pack of cards in front of the boys. "…and this is the only one we have left."

"Huh? J-Just one?" Judai and Sho shouted out of shock in unison.

"What should we do, _aniki_?" Sho asked. "We bombed the written test, so if we can at least beef up our decks for the practical part…"

"It's okay. You buy it, Sho," Judai said.

"You're letting me have it? It's the very last pack!" Sho said.

"It's _fine_," Judai insisted.

"But _aniki_, today's a really big test! And we're both mutual enemies, too…"

"Enemies? Why?" Judai asked.

"Well, you see…" Sho tried to explain what he meant, but Judai cut him off.

"Still, there's still some time left until the skills test! Let's hurry up and get working on our decks!"

"_Aniki_…"

"Wait just a minute there!" the two Osiris students and the girl heard someone shout out before Judai noticed the old woman he and Takeo helped out earlier.

"Ah, it's Granny from this morning!" Judai greeted the woman.

"It's not "Granny." Call me "Tome." _To-me_!" the woman introduced herself while pronouncing her own name for Judai to remember.

"So, you work at the store, Tome-_san_, huh?" Judai asked.

"Do you know her, _aniki_?" Sho asked.

"For certain reasons, I guess," Judai said as he scratched his cheek.

"That aside, come on over here," Tome said as she waved for Judai to step closer before chuckling to herself. "I've got something that's very nice, sir!"

But then Tome noticed that Judai wasn't with the other young man that helped her with her van earlier.

"Oh? Where's the other boy that was with you?" Tome asked.

"You mean Takeo? He didn't want to get any new cards so he didn't come with us," Judai explained.

"That's too bad. I had something for him as well," Tome said.

* * *

While Judai and Sho were chatting with Tome in the card shop, Manjoume and his two buddies were walking in the rafters of the gym.

"Who was that guy? How dare he buy up all those cards…" said Manjoume's blue-haired friend.

"We weren't able to buy a single thing…" Manjoume's brown-haired friend explained. "What'll we do about this afternoon's test?"

"Just keep calm. You don't need to stock up on any new cards for some dumb monthly test," Manjoume assured them. "There's nobody in Obelisk Blue who can beat _me_, anyway."

"But what if your opponent was Yuki Judai?" a voice asked, earning the attention of the three Obelisk boys.

"What?" Manjoume asked, turning to see the voice belonged to a man wearing a black trenchcoat and hat.

"Can you beat Judai with your deck as it is?" the man asked.

"You're the one… who bought up all the cards!" Manjoume's blue-haired friend gasped.

"Those cards are all…" the main said before opening up his coat, revealing cards stuck to the inside. "Right here!"

"Who are you?" Manjoume's brown-haired friend asked.

"What's the point of buying up all those cards?" Manjoume's glasses-wearing friend wondered.

"Still clueless, Signore Manjoume? As to…" the man started before pulling off the coat and hat to reveal he was really Chronos de Medici. "…who I really am?"

"It's the guy who lost to Yuki Judai, Professor Chronos!" Manjoume said, embarrassing the professor even though he was the Obelisk dorm leader.

"A dropout boy like Yuki Judai must be crushed by elites such as yourselves before it's too late," Chronos explained before pointing at Manjoume. "That's why I'm instructing you to do it! Fight against Judai!"

"But the practical test is conducted between members of the same dorm!" Manjoume stated.

"Leave everything to me!" Chronos assured the black-haired Obelisk. "And we'll make that Dropout Boy remember that we elites are the rare ones around here!"

* * *

As Manjoume and his two friends were talking with Professor Chronos in the gymnasium rafters, Takeo was walking around the currently empty room below them.

"Now let's see how things will play out," Takeo mused to himself before closing his eyes and letting his mind scan the gym floor.

In his mind, Takeo could see every duel that would take place starting at 2:00 PM, but was confused when his mind left five duels completely blank, with his own being one of them.

'_Strange. I'm certain two of those belong to Judai and Hikari, but what about the other three? Since I can't see my own, I'm guessing I'm up against someone else that can't be read. Probably the same with the other two,_' Takeo said before taking a seat and waiting for the exam to begin.

* * *

Once 2:00 rolled around, the dueling half of the exam began and as Takeo sat and waited for his duel, he watched for the two duels that he couldn't read. One of them turned out to be Tenjoin Asuka's duel.

'_Well, I guess I never did try to read her mind, but since I didn't see a need to do so I guess that one was my fault,_' Takeo thought to himself and continued to watch the other duels.

Misawa flew through his duel with little damage, though Sho wasn't as lucky, even though he won, he did it with very few Life Points to spare. Hikari had managed to pass her exam as well, though Takeo noticed she didn't play _The Splendid Venus_. Eventually Takeo's turn to duel came up, but before he could get down to the dueling field, Judai stopped him.

"What do you want, Judai?" Takeo asked, a little annoyed that his duel was being postponed.

"I just wanted to give you something before your duel," Judai said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card before handing it to Takeo. "It's a gift from Tome-_san_, the old lady we helped this morning."

Takeo took the card and looked at it, a little surprised by what it was.

"_Hostile Servant_," Takeo read the card's name and effect. '_Maybe there are a few cards in this time I can still obtain to go with my deck._' "Thanks, I guess."

"You'll have to thank Tome-_san_. And she also wanted me to tell you she wishes you luck," Judai said before returning to his seat.

'_I don't need luck,_' Takeo mentally said as he added his new card to his deck and continued to one of the dueling fields as another Osiris walked up to the other side

"So you're the guy with the weird cards," Takeo's opponent said.

"Let's just start this duel already," Takeo said as he switched on his Duel Disk, causing the board to shoot out before he and his opponent shuffled their decks.

"Duel!" both of them shouted as they put their decks into their slots and drew their starting hands.

Takeo: 4000

Student: 4000

"I'll make the first move. Draw!" Takeo's opponent declared as he drew his sixth card. "I'll start by summoning _Electric Battery Man – Single Type_ in Defense mode!"

As the Osiris student played his card, a yellow and black battery with green hands and feet as well as a green head appeared on the field and crossed its arms to defend itself. (1/0/1900)

"Turn end!" the student said.

Student's hand: 5

"My turn then. Draw!" Takeo said, pulling his sixth card. "I'll start by playing the Permanent Magic card, _Psychic Break_!"

As Takeo played his card, the artwork showed some kind of mechanical monster with a computer monitor for a head standing on a platform as four orange towers fed electricity to it.

"As long as this card is on my field, every time I normal-summon a Psychic-type monster I can pay 500 Life Points to increase that monster's ATK by 300 and its Level by 1," Takeo explained before grabbing another card. "Next I'll summon my _Psycho Commander_ in Attack mode!"

As Takeo played his card, the familiar tank-driving monster appeared. (3/1400/800)

"And now I'll activate the effect of my _Psychic Break_ Magic card and pay 500 Life to strength my _Commander_," Takeo said as a green aura surrounded him, draining his Life Points while his tank-driving monster hovered to the center of the platform only to be struck by electricity that powered it up. (3-4/1400-1700/800)

Takeo: 3500

Student: 4000

"You're crazy, paying so much to strengthen your monster. But even with that boost, it's not strong enough to beat my monster," Takeo's opponent explained.

"Then I guess I'll use my _Commander_'s Monster effect. By paying Life Points in increments of 100, I can lower the ATK and DEF of an opponent's monster by the same amount, to a maximum of 500," Takeo explained, surprising his opponent. "I'll pay 300 Life Points to weaken your monster!"

The orbs floating around the tank of Takeo's monster started to glow before releasing energy at Takeo, draining more of his Life before they shocked the _Battery Men_ monster, lowering its DEF as it cringed in pain. (1/0/1900-1600)

"Now my _Psycho Commander_, destroy his monster!" Takeo commanded, to which his monster complied and fired from its cannon, striking the _Battery Men_ monster and destroying it.

Takeo: 3200

Student: 4000

"Turn end," Takeo said.

Takeo's hand: 4

'_Damn, he took out my only defense._' "My turn! Draw!" the Osiris student said as he pulled his next card and looked at it. '_Or maybe not. This should buy me some time._' First I summon _Battery Man – Single Three Type_ in Defense mode!"

As the student played his next card, a thin red and black battery appeared on the field with long arms and legs, its hands, legs and head were orange and it had green eyes. (3/0/0)

"And my monster here has a pretty nifty ability! If all _Single Three Type_s I control are in Attack mode, their ATK increases by 1000 for each while if they're all in Defense mode, their DEF increases by 1000 each!" the student explained as a small pulse of electricity flowed through the battery-like monster. (3/0/0-1000) "And now I'll play my Permanent Magic card, _Battery Shield_!"

When the next card was played, its artwork showed a crouching _Battery Man – Single Three Type_ surrounded by a barrier of electricity.

"With this card in play, my Level-3 or lower Thunder-type monsters can't be destroyed by battle," the student explained as a barrier like the one on the card surrounded the _Battery Man_ monster. "Turn end."

Student's hand: 4

"My turn then. Draw!" Takeo announced as he pull his next card, but his eyes widened when he looked at it and the rest of his hand. 'Hostile Servant_. I also have _Battle Teleportation_, but I don't have anything strong enough to beat him, and with that Magic card on his field his monster's invincible while in Defense mode._' "I summon _Power Injector_ in Attack mode!"

When Takeo played his card, a Frankenstein-looking monster wearing a blue business suit appeared on the field with red tubes in place of his forearms and hands. (4/1300/1400)

"I then set three reverse cards and end my turn," Takeo said as three facedown cards appeared behind him while not activating the effect of his _Psychic Break_.

Takeo's hand: 1

"Now it's my turn. Draw!" the student said, pulling his next card and then looking at it. '_Yes! This is perfect!_' "I sacrifice my _Battery Man – Single Three Type_ to summon my _Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon_!

As the student played his next card, his monster disappeared and the _Battery Shield _card shattered as a new monster, appearing to be made up of thick copper parts and wires, showed up on the field. And an odd thing that happened was the _Battery Man – Single Three Type_ monster that was sacrificed was now lodged in a slot on the dragon's chest. (5/2400/1000)

"And my _Voltech Dragon_ has a nice little effect. Depending on which specific _Battery Man_ I sacrifice for him, he gets a different effect. By sacrificing _Single Three Type_, my dragon gains 1000 ATK points!" the student explained as the _Voltech Dragon_ let out a mechanical roar while the _Battery Man_ in its chest fed power to it. (5/2400-3400/1000) "Now my dragon, attack his _Psycho Commander_!"

The dragon let out another roar as an electric field surrounded its body before releasing it towards the tank-driving monster.

"I don't think so. Reverse card, open!" Takeo announced as one of his cards rose up, its card image being nothing more than a spiraling vortex, which had appeared on the field and absorbed the electric attack. "_Attack Nullification_! Not only does it stop your attack, but it also ends your Battle Phase!"

"Darn it. Turn end," the student surrendered his turn.

Studentn's hand: 4

"My turn. Draw!" Takeo announced as he pulled his next card. '_This duel's over._' "I release my _Psycho Commander_ to Advance Summon my _Max Teleporter_ in Attack mode!"

Takeo's monster on the field turned inside out, transforming it into a glowing portal. The portal itself then shifted and transformed into a young man wearing a large blue jacket and a green mask covering the upper half of his body. (6/2100/1200) When Hikari saw this play, her last duel against Takeo ran through her mind.

'_Is he going to use its effect again?_' the Light Angel duelists thought to herself.

"Now then, I'll use the effect of my _Psychic Break_ and pay 500 Life Points to increase the ATK and Level of my _Max Teleporter_!" Takeo announced as his Life Points drained some more and the orange towers fueled the new monster with power. (6-7/2100-2400/1200) "Next I'll use the effect of my _Power Injector_! By paying 600 Life Points, I can increase the ATK of all Psychic-type monsters on my field by 500 for this turn."

Once more, Takeo's Life Points drained as his stitched-up monster aimed its tubed arms at _Max Teleporter_ and shot a burst of green energy at the newer monster, increasing its power further as _Power Injector_ itself grew stronger. (7/2400-2900/1200) (4/1300-1800/1400)

Takeo: 2100

Student: 4000

"Now then, I'll activate one of my reversed cards!" Takeo announced as one of his remaining face-down cards rose, the artwork showing the _Mental Protector_ monster he had used in his duel against Hikari, but its soul appeared to be leaving its body. "_Psycho Soul_! With this Trap card, I release onePsychic-type monster on my field and restore my Life Points by 300 times the Level of that monster. So I'll release my Level-4 _Power Injector_ for my _Psycho Soul_!"

Takeo's Trap card and _Power Injector_ monster began to glow before a green, transparent version of the monster floated above its colored counterpart. The body of _Power Injector_ slowly dissolved away as the green soul flew towards Takeo and restored some on his Life Points.

Takeo: 3300

Student: 4000

"Next, I'll activate my last reversed card! _Battle Teleportation_!" Takeo said as his last facedown card rose, the card being the same one he used back in his entrance exam. "I can only activate this card if I control only one face-up Psychic-type monster. This card will allow it to bypass my opponents' monsters and attack them directly, but the monster falls under my opponents' control. But before I start my Battle Phase, I play my last card! The Equip Magic card, _Hostile Servant_!"

As Takeo played his final card, the artwork showed an odd-looking bird pirched on the shoulder of _Command Knight_. The same bird on the Magic card then appeared on the shoulder on _Max Teleporter_.

"Now then, battle! _Max Teleporter_, attack my opponent directly!" Takeo declared, to which his monster acknowledged by teleporting to the opponent's field and releasing a pulse of psychic energy, pushing the Osiris student back a little.

Takeo: 3300

Student: 1100

"But now I have your monster, and on your next turn you're finished!" the student stated.

"Actually, that's where you're wrong," Takeo said, confusing his opponent. "_Hostile Servant_'s effect activates! When the monster equipped with it has its control switched, the new owner is dealt damage equal to the equipped monster's current ATK."

"What?" the student shouted as _Max Teleporter_ stood next to his _Voltech Dragon_, but the bird perched on its shoulder took flight and flew around the field before flying back around and striking the Osiris student in the chest as hard as it could.

Takeo: 3300 (winner)

Student: 0

As the holograms faded away, Takeo collected his cards and put them back into his deck and walked back towards his seat.

'_So that's why I couldn't see my own duel. Judai gave me a card from someone else that I didn't have in my deck. Or could it just be because Judai was involved?_' Takeo mentally asked himself, but before he reached his seat he felt a small ping in the back of his head, prompting him to turn around and look at the dueling field.

On one particular field were two Ra Yellow students getting ready for their duel, but it was the other duel that Takeo couldn't see.

'_So it's one of those two then. Let's have a look which one it is,_' Takeo mentally noted before letting his mind sneak into the minds of the two Ra students.

One of the students was easy enough to get into, but the second one repelled him in an instant. The student that repelled Takeo, aside from wearing the standard Ra Yellow blazer, also had pitch-black hair that stopped at his shoulders and covered his left eye. His right eye was green, so it was safe to assume his left eye was the same color. The student also wore black pants and shoes and had a slightly dulled look on his face.

"You ready, Takuto-_san_?" the black-haired student's opponent asked.

"Sure," Takuto shrugged as both of them shuffled their decks.

"Duel!" they both said as they pulled their first five cards.

Student: 4000

Takuto: 4000

"I guess I'll go first," Takuto said as he pulled his sixth card. "I send, from my hand to the Cemetery, my Level-5 _Dark General Freed_ to special-summon my _Dark Grepher_ in Attack mode!"

As Takuto sent one card to his Cemetery slot, the card he played summoned a dark-skinned swordsman with blood-red eyes and wearing demonic armor and a sadistic grin on his face. (4/1700/1600)

"And now for _Dark Grepher_'s Monster effect, I'll send a _Killer Tomato_ from my hand to the Cemetery to send a _Cannon Soldier_ from my deck to the Cemetery," Takuto explained as he sent the card from his hand into the slot before pulling out his deck, searching through it, and putting the selected card into his Cemetery before shuffling and putting his deck back. "Next, I'll remove from play the _Killer Tomato_ and _Cannon Soldier_ in my Cemetery and send the _Dark Nephthys_ in my hand to my Cemetery."

As the two cards ejected themselves from his Cemetery slot, Takuto put them in his pocket before sliding another card into his Cemetery.

"And on my next Standby Phase, _Dark Nephthys _will revive itself onto my field," Takuto explained. "I'll then set a monster in Defense mode and one card facedown. Turn end."

A reversed card appeared on the field in a horizontal position on Takuto's field as well as in his Magic & Trap card zone.

Takuto's hand: 1

"My turn. Draw!" Takuto's opponent announced before drawing his sixth card. "I'll summon _Mammo Fossil_ in Attack mode!"

As the Ra student played his card, a skeletal mammoth with half its body covered in white fur appeared on the field. (4/1800/0)

"_Mammo Fossil_, attack his _Dark Grepher_!" the Ra student commanded, to which the Rock-type monster mowed across the field towards the dark warrior.

"Trap card activate! _Shift Change_!" Takuto announced as his facedown card rose, the image showing two monsters, one up front and one in the back while two arrows were making them switch places. "When one of my monsters were to be the target of a Magic or Trap card effect or an attack, I can switch it to another monster on my field, like my facedown monster!"

_Dark Grepher_ was soon replaced by Takuto's facedown monster as _Mammo Fossil_ ran over it, revealing the monster to be a _Killer Tomato_ before it shattered.

"And now the effect of my _Killer Tomato_ activates, allowing me to special-summon a Dark-attribute monster from my deck with 1500 or less ATK," Takuto explained as he pulled out his deck, searched it and then played the card he found. "I choose my _Snipe Stalker_!"

The next monster to appear looked like a miniature demon holding a laser pistol with a small wheel that had the numbers 1 through 6 on it. (4/1500/600)

"But my _Mammo Fossil_'s effect activates," the Ra student explained while Takuto shuffled his deck and put it back into its slot. "When it destroys my opponents' monster and sends it to the Cemetery, its Monster effect deals 400 damage!"

_Mammo Fossil_, instead of immediately returning to its owner's side of the field, made a u-turn and ran right into Takuto.

Student: 4000

Takuto: 3600

"Turn end," the Ra said.

Student's hand: 5

"My turn. Draw!" Takuto said, pulling his next card. "Now during my Standby Phase, _Dark Nephthys_ special-summons itself it my field!"

At the effect's call, bright burning flames erupted on the field and rising from them was a black, metallic phoenix. (8/2400/1600)

"Not good," Takuto's opponent muttered while taking a step back.

"Now I'll use the Monster effect of my _Snipe Stalker_! I can send a card in my hand to the Cemetery and select a card on my opponents' field. The spinner on my monster's gun will then spin, and if it lands on anything other than a 1 or a 6, that card is destroyed."

As Takuto slid one of his two remaining cards into the Cemetery, _Snipe Stalker_ took aim at the only card on the opponent's field, _Mammo Fossil_, and spun the wheel on his gun. The wheel spun and spun until it began to slow down, but when it stopped, the gun jammed while the number 1 floated above _Snipe Stalker_.

"So a misfire," Takuto muttered while his opponent let out a sigh of relief. "But I still have one card left, so I'll try again."

Takuto's opponent took another step back in shock as Takuto put his final card into his Cemetery, prompting _Snipe Stalker_ to spin the wheel again. The wheel spun faster this time until is started to slow down once more. When it stopped, the number 4 floated above the demon's head.

"A 4 this time. _Snipe Stalker_, destroy _Mammo Fossil_!" Takuto commanded, to which the demon monster took aim and fired his laser which pierced through the Rock-type monster and destroyed it. "_Dark Grepher_! _Dark Nephthys_! Attack him directly!"

The dark warrior complied and charged ahead with his sword ready as the black phoenix took flight and sped at it target. Once _Dark Grepher_ was close enough, he slashed the Ra student with his sword before backing off while _Dark Nephthys_ flew overhead, burning the student with its flames.

Student: 0

Takuto: 3600 (winner)

As the three monsters faded, Takuto turned off his Duel Disk.

"Hey, nice match, Takuto-_san_!" the Ra student called to his opponent, but Takuto just shrugged and walked back towards his seat, passing by Takeo as he did.

"A Dark Counterpart deck. Hard to get the cards and harder still to make a working strategy," Takeo said just as Takuto walked next to him, causing the Ra student to stop.

"And you're the one with those new cards. Psychic-types, right?" Takuto asked as Takeo merely nodded.

Without exchanging another word, both Takeo and Takuto returned to their seats, only to hear someone gasping in shock, to which they stood up and saw it was none other than Judai.

"Why am I dueling Manjoume?" Judai shouted as Professor Chronos walked up to the dueling field the Osiris and Obelisk students were on.

"Since you scored so well on the entry exam, you wouldn't match up evenly against any Osiris Red student," Chronos explained. "Which is why we have judged that Signore Manjoume is a much more suitable opponent for you. Of course, if you win, you will be promoted to Ra Yellow. So, how does that sound to you, Yuki Judai-_kun_? Will you accept this offer?"

'_I knew that _aniki_ was awesome,_' Sho mentally stated as he, along with every other student, had rose to their feet from Judai's initial outburst.

'_If Judai wins, he'll be in the same dorm I am. He just enrolled here and already he's…_' Misawa started in his head, but was interrupted by Judai.

"Fine by me!" the Osiris brunette answered. "I want to duel against all kinds of people. I want to take on challenges, no matter who they're from!"

"Then, you'll accept the duel with Signore Manjoume?" Chronos said, wanting to make sure everyone understood Judai's answer.

"All right. I'm going to settle what we started before," Manjoume said with a grin.

"Yeah!" Judai shouted in full agreement. As both duelist pushed their pre-shuffled decks into their slots.

"Duel!"

Judai: 4000

Manjoume: 4000

"Let's go, Manjoume!" Judai shouted, pulling his starting five cards.

"It's Manjoume-_san_!" Manjoume shouted, also drawing his first five cards.

"I'll go first. Draw!" Judai proclaimed as he drew his sixth card.

"_Kuri kuri!_" a familiar voice shouted, to which Judai looked at his newly-added card.

"So it's you, _Winged Kuriboh_?" Judai said, a little surprised to see the card show up so early. '_Partner… you coming out right from the jump is reassuring. In that case, I'll…_' "I'll summon _Elemental Hero Clayman_ in Defense mode!"

As Judai played his card, the hero of stone materialized to the field and crouched down defensively. (4/800/2000)

"I end my turn," Judai said, feeling prepared for anything.

Judai's hand: 5

"Youre worthless Hero deck full of smallfries… I'll show you just how fragile you are! My turn. Draw!" Manjoume declared as he pulled his sixth card and glanced at it. '_And already, it's a rare card I got from Professor Chronos…_' "I activate the Magic card, _The Mallet Of Luck_!"

As Manjoume played his card, the artwork showed a small toy hammer with tiny wings attached to it.

"What?" Judai shouted, wondering how Manjoume got his hands on such a rare card.

"By shuffling this card, along with any cards I don't want in my hand, back into my deck, I'll draw that many new cards!" Manjoume explained as he held up four other cards from his hand. "And now, I'll…"

"Huh? He's going to replace that many cards?" Sho shouted in surprise.

"If you can drop any cards from your hand you don't want and replace them, your chances of getting the cards you want into your hand gets higher," Misawa explained.

"So he's increasing his odds of drawing better cards," Takeo mused. '_What will you do against something like that, Judai?_'

"What's more, _The Mallet Of Luck_ isn't a one-time use card. Since it'll keep returning to my deck, it'll keep going right back into my hand!" Manjoume said after shuffling his deck and drawing five new cards, showing one of them to be _The Mallet Of Luck_ once again. "I activate _The Mallet Of Luck_ again! I'll return _The Mallet Of Luck_ and another card into my deck and draw two cards again!"

Manjoume shuffled the two cards into his deck and drew two others.

"Come forth! I summon _V-Tiger Jet_ in Attack mode!" Manjoume shouted as he played his card, summoning a green and yellow jet with a tiger-like head and claw-like missiles. (4/1600/1800) "Next, from my hand, I activate the Permanent Magic, _Frontline Base_!"

The next card Manjoume played showed a _Dark Realm Knight – Dark Sword_ on the back of a _Jet-Black Dragon_ about to take flight off a stone wall.

"Once each turn, I can special-summon a Level-4 or less monster from my hand!" Manjoume explained as he picked another card and played it. "And this turn, I'll special-summon _W-Wing Catapult_ in Attack mode! Come forth! _W-Wing Catapult_!"

The next monster to materialize onto the field was a blue jet that looked more like two smaller jets had combined together. (4/1300/1500)

"And then, I fuse it with _V-Tiger Jet_!" Manjoume announced as both jet-like monsters flew into the air, _W-Wing Catapult_ extending its wings as _V-Tiger Jet_ landed on top of it before two missile pods opened up on the blue jet, the combination of moves shocking Judai and leaving the Osiris speechless. (6/2000/2100) "_VW-Tiger Catapult_! Shocked, are you, Judai? However, my turn has far from ended yet. Next, I activate _VW-Tiger Catapult_'s special effect!"

Manjoume took one card in his hand and pushed it into his Cemetery slot.

"By discarding a card in my hand, it switches an opponent's monster into Attack mode!" Manjoume explained.

"What?" Judai shouted in surprise.

"No fair! If his 800-ATK _Clayman_ gets hit with an attack…" Sho said, playing the scenario in his head.

"So Judai's in trouble right off the bat. Now what will you do?" Takeo mused to himself as Judai's monster unwillingly rose to its feet while Manjoume laughed.

"Here I go, Judai! VW-Tiger Missiles, fire! Eradicate _Clayman_!" Manjoume ordered.

The combined monster fired a barrage of its missiles at the stone hero, creating an explosion on impact and destroying him.

Judai: 2800

Manjoume: 4000

"_Aniki_!" Sho called out.

"Bravo! Signore Manjoume has certainly mastered the tactics he's added in to their fullest!" Chronos cheered as he and Principal Samejima watched the duel from a room above the gymnasium.

"I place a card facedown to finish my turn!" Manjoume said as a reversed card appeared in front of him.

Manjoume's hand: 1

"That's nothing! The duel has just begun!" Judai reassured himself. "Here goes. My turn. Draw!"

Judai drew his next card and picked another from his hand.

"I summon _Elemental Hero Sparkman_ in Defense mode!" Judai said as he played his card, summoning the hero of electricity. (4/1600/1400) "I place a card facedown to end my turn."

Judai's hand: 4

"Huh? Defense mode isn't like _aniki_ at all…" Sho said, worried about Judai's strategy.

"With what he's facing at 2000 ATK, it must be the only thing he can do," Misawa assumed.

"B-But…"

'_Judai, this can't be all you've got…_' Asuka said mentally.

"_VW-Tiger Catapult_'s effect will just change his monster to Attack mode anyway, so no matter what he does that Judai guy will take damage," Takuto muttered.

"My turn. Draw!" Manjoume said as he drew his next card. "I summon _X-Head Cannon_ in Attack mode!"

As Manjoume played his card, a humanoid machine appeared, but it didn't have any legs and it had cannons attached to its shoulders while being colored blue and yellow and thick arms. (4/1800/1500)

"Next, with the effect of the Permanent Magic, _Frontline Base_, I special-summon _Z-Metal Caterpillar_!" Manjoume announced as he played his next card, calling forth a yellow, insect-like tank without a cannon. (4/1500/1300)

"Y-You couldn't…!" Judai shouted in shock, not wanting to believe Manjoume had the full set of monsters.

"Since he has _X_ and _Z_, that means the only card left is…!" Sho said worriedly.

"Reverse card, open!" Manjoume shouted as his facedown card rose, revealing a cemetery with a rising mist. "I can use this _Cry Of The Living Dead_'s effect to reveive a Monster card from my Cemetery! And that monster is…"

As the Trap card activated, a red mechanical dragon slowly materialized to the field. (4/1500/1600)

"It's _Y_!" Sho shouted in shock.

"T-This is bad!" Misawa said, worried for Judai's situation.

"Looks like that Osiris is done for," Takuto mused.

'_I'm not counting you out yet, Judai. You've shown that you can beat the odds, so what will you do to twist fate this time?_' Takeo thought to himself.

"Here we go, Judai! I combine _X_, _Y_, and _Z_ together!" Manjoume announced as all three machines flew into the air, with _X-Head Cannon_ attaching to _Y-Dragon Head_'s back, the mechanical dragon ejecting its wings while connecting to the back of _Z-Metal Caterpillar_. (8/2800/2600) "_XYZ-Dragon Cannon_!"

"There are two monsters on the field with an ATK of 2000 or higher… Does Judai have any chance of winning now?" Misawa wondered while Sho gasped.

'_There's one more monster Manjoume could summon, but only if he has the card. And judging by his moves in this duel, I wouldn't doubt he has them,_' Hikari thought to herself.

"There's more!" Manjoume yelled, surprising Judai more. "I'm not done yet! I'm going to use my _VW-Tiger Catapult_ and my _XYZ-Dragon Cannon_ for a Combination Summon again!"

"Again?" Judai shouted in shock as both monsters took flight.

This time both monsters split into their five original parts, but slowly started to combine together again. _W-Wing Catapult_ formed the legs while connecting to _Y-Dragon Head_, which formed the lower half of the body. _X-Head Cannon_ attached itself to _Y-Dragon Head_ to act as the torso and _Z-Metal Caterpillar_'s wheels formed the arms while_ V-Tiger Jet_ made the head. To cap it off, the wings of _Y-Dragon Head_ attached to the giant's back and red tail protruded from its backside. (8/3000/2800)

"This is my _V-to-Z Dragon Catapult Cannon_!" Manjoume announced as his monster stood in front of him. "And _V-to-Z_'s special ability activates!"

"_Sparkman_…!" Judai said as he noticed his monster disappeared with a small gust of wind.

"A pity, isn't it, Judai? _V-to-Z_ is able to remove an opponent's card once per turn," Manjoume explained before chuckling. "Taste and savor it. The sadness of the one who has nothing…"

"This is simply the best! That dropout boy will be _dropping_ any moment now!" Chronos continued to cheer from the viewing room.

"Go, _V-to-Z_! Attack that player directly!" Manjoume commanded.

"Hold it! Reverse Trap, open!" Judai said, putting Manjoume's attack on pause as Judai's facedown card rose and showed a monster leaping out of a vortex. "_A Hero Appears_!"

"What?" Chronos wondered, not knowing about Judai's card or not expecting the play.

"_A Hero Appears_?" Manjoume repeated.

"If the card my opponent chooses is a Monster card, this card can summon it to my field!" Judai explained as he lifted his hand for Manjoume to see his cards. "C'mon and choose, Manjoume!"

"It's Manjoume-_san_!" the Obelisk corrected his opponent. "The leftmost card!"

Judai scanned through the cards in his hand until he stopped at the one to his far left, causing his eyes to widen and a grin to appear on his face.

"Lucky! I summon this card, _Burstlady_, in Defense mode!" Judai said as he played his card, calling out the female hero of fire. (3/1200/800)

"I won't let it be in Defense mode! When _V-to-Z_ attacks, the monster's battle mode is completely up to me!" Manjoume stated, explaining the other effect of his monster as Judai's monster rose to its feet. "_V-to-Z_! **Ultimate Destruction!** Attack _Burstlady_!"

The mechanical giant aimed its twin cannons at the female hero and fired two blasts that enveloped her, destroying her in an instant.

Judai: 1000

Manjoume: 4000

"_Aniki_!" Sho shouted.

"I end my turn," Manjoume said, confident he had already attained victory. "Once again, you're totally exposed. You don't have a single monster on your field."

Manjoume's hand: 0

"I… believe in my deck. As long as there are monsters that'll fight by my side until the very end in here, I'll keep on fighting! Draw!" Judai said, determined not to lose as he pulled his next card and looked at it. '_T-This is…_'

**

* * *

[Flashback Start]**

"Come on over here… I nabbed this for you!" Tome said as she waved for Judai to step closer before handing Judai a pack of cards and a single card to Judai. "This is my thanks for helping me push my car. And that card is my thanks to Takeo-_kun_. Because I thought a couple of Osiris Red fellows like you two could use a few extra cards."

"Th-Thank you, Tome-_san_," Judai said as he took the pack and the single card. "But just to save you from getting yelled at in the future, Takeo doesn't like it very much when people use honorifics with his name when talking to him."

"Is that so? I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Tome said.

**[Flashback End]**

* * *

"_Winged Kuriboh_, do you sense something?" Judai asked his partner card after it squeaked when Judai drew his new card.

"_Kuri kuri!_" the winged furball answered.

"Since you insist, I'll bet everything on this card! I summoned _Winged Kuriboh_ in Defense mode!" Judai said, playing his card so the winged monster would materialize onto the field. (1/300/200)

"_Kawaii~_!" all the girls, including Hikari but excluding Asuka, cooed as the fluffy winged monster made its appeared.

"Then, I set a card facedown and finish my turn!" Judai announced as a reversed card appeared behind _Winged Kuriboh_.

Judai's hand: 2

"Defense mode, again… Have you run out of options, _aniki_?" Sho wondered as Judai had yet to play a monster in Attack mode.

'_No, that _Winged Kuriboh is _his option!_' Asuka figured out in her head.

'_This is it, Judai. Will you defeat Manjoume or be reduced to ashes?_' Takeo wondered.

"My turn. Draw!" Manjoume said as he drew his next card. "It's useless! Even if that annoying furball that reduces Battle Damage to 0 is there, _V-to-Z_'s special effect'll remove it!"

"Then just try it!" Judai dared.

"Wipe out that _Winged Kuriboh_, and then attack Judai directly! **Ultimate Destruction!**" Manjoume commanded as his monster took aim and fired its cannons.

"He's done for!" Sho said, not wanting to see Judai lose but unable to look away. "His _Winged Kuriboh_ won't last a second against it!"

'_The moment of truth!_' Takeo shouted in his head as his eyes widened, waiting to see Judai's move.

"Here it is, Partner! From my hand, I use two cards as a cost to activate _Evolutionary Wings_!" Judai announced as he quickly pushed the remaining cards in his hand to the Cemetery slot and causing his reversed card to rise, the artwork of the card showing a small, young angel with a large pair of wings and a transparent image of an older angel behind her.

"What?" both Manjoume and Chronos shouted while a pair of large wings and gold dragon-like armor appeared on _Winged Kuriboh_'s body. (10/300/200)

Just before the blast from _V-to-Z Dragon Catapult Cannon_ struck, the large wings wrapped around the small furry monster, shielding it from the blast.

"W-What's happening?" Manjoume shouted, wondering why Judai's monster didn't vanish.

"Thanks to _Evolutionary Wings_, _Winged Kuriboh_ evolves! Now, _Winged Kuriboh_'s a Level-10! His effect lets him sacrifice himself to destroy all monsters in Attack mode, dealing their ATK as damage to the opposing player!" Judai said, explaining not only why his monster was on the field but also its effect. "_Winged Kuriboh_, send all that energy right back at him!"

The attack _V-to-Z_ had fired was absorbed by _Winged Kuriboh_'s new wings before the tiny monster released the gathered energy right back at the giant, engulfing the machine and blasting Manjoume as the Obelisk shielded himself from the dust.

Judai: 1000

Manjoume: 1000

"I end my turn!" Manjoume seethed.

Manjoume's hand: 1

"Manjoume!" Judai called to his opponent, earning the black-haired Obelisk's attention. "Now our Lives are at 1000 points a piece. But it'd be interesting if I draw a monster with an ATK of 1000 or higher, wouldn't it?"

"What crap are you spewing? As if it'd be that simple!" Manjoume shouted.

"But it's be interesting if I draw one, wouldn't it? My turn. Draw!" Judai said as he pulled his next card from his Duel Disk and glanced at it. "I summon this card, _Featherman_, and I attack the player directly!"

Once Judai played the card, the green, winged hero appeared on the field, surprising everyone with his lucky move. (3/1000/1000) The green hero then charged ahead, shocking Manjoume and slashing him with its claws once close enough.

Judai: 1000 (winner)

Manjoume: 0

"You did it!" Sho shouted as everyone cheered over Judai's victory and a great duel. "You did it, _aniki_!"

"To have that many rare cards and lose…" Chronos said, shocked at Judai's victory,

"It appeared that there _were_ grounds for him beating you, Professor Chronos," Samejima figured.

"You really _must_ excuse me!" Chronos said as he stomped off and out of the room in embarrassment while the principal chuckled in amusement.

"Gotcha! That sure was a fun duel!" Judai said to Manjoume as he gave his signature salute.

"Judai…" Manjoume seethed, glaring angrily at the brunette Osiris.

"Hey! Hey, _aniki_!" Sho called out as he, Misawa and Takeo walked up to Judai.

"You have shown me, Yuki Judai," Samejima said over the speakers, earning the attention of all the students. "Your trust in your deck, your passionate friendship with your monsters, and most importantly, a dueling soul that never gives up in a fight… These are things I'm sure everyone here has acknowledged. So, as the winner, Yuki-_kun_, you are being promoted to Ra Yellow!"

"Congratulations! Good going, Judai!" all of the students cheered.

"You're incredible! You're just awesome, _aniki_!" Sho congratulated his friend before hugging him from behind. "You've overwhelmed me!"

"Aren't I though?" Judai laughed.

"Yuki Judai, congratulations, and welcome to Ra Yellow," Misawa said as he stuck out his arm.

"Yeah!" Judai said as he took Misawa's hand and shook it while the other students in the stands continued to cheer.

'_So, now, _aniki_ is an official Ra Yellow student. It's gonna be lonely being separated from my _aniki_, but… I supposed this is all for the best,_' Sho mentally told himself as Judai waved to everyone cheering for him. '_Congratulations, _aniki_… Congratulations!_'

'_It's not going to be as amusing with him not in Osiris Red anymore, but I'm not leaving until I see this through,_' Takeo mentally noted.

* * *

Later in the day, Sho and Takeo returned to the Osiris Red dorm, Takeo deciding to hang around Judai's old room with Sho and Hayato.

"Pretty strange…" Hayato mused. "There's no way a guy could switch from Osiris Red so quickly, after all."

"That may be, but _aniki_'s already off in Ra Yellow…" Sho sighed while Takeo heard footsteps outside the door.

'_Looks like there's going to be a change,_' Takeo thought to himself. "I wouldn't say that yet."

Before Sho or Hayato could ask what Takeo meant, the door opened and none other than Judai walked in.

"'Sup, guys!" Judai greeted.

"'Sup… guys…?" Sho repeated before turning around and seeing Judai standing in the doorway. "_Aniki_! What're you doing here?"

"Why am I here? This is my room, you know," Judai answered matter-of-factly. "Where's the harm in me coming back to my own room? That's right! I like it here! I like Osiris red, the same red as seething flames, boiling blood, and fervent zeal! I never _ever_ plan on leaving it!"

"_Aniki_!" Sho cried as he ran at Judai and glomped the brunette.

"You dummy! Let go of my, Sho! You're smothering me!" Judai shouted.

"I'm so happy, _aniki_! To think that we still get to stay together!" Sho continued to cry into Judai's shirt.

"Hey!"

"Please, just let me cry for today!"

"Aah! Back off!" Judai shouted as he tried to push Sho off him.

"_Aniki_! I'm going to follow you forever!"

"I don't care if you'll follow me, just back off!" Judai shouted before he started laughing. "I guess you'd call this "Passion Red"!"

"_Aniki_~!" Sho continued to cry.

'_So it looks like Judai's staying after all,_' Takeo thought to himself as a shadow of a smile appeared on the Psycho Duelist's face.

* * *

**A/N: And that's the chapter! That's right, DOD's character, Takuto, uses a Dark Counterpart deck as per his request! Now I know both Takuto's and Takeo's duels were short, but when putting character against random people that have no real point in the story I just can't find anything to extend the duels (especially with just 4000-point duels, but I'm trying not to make too many duels 8000-points). And DOD, I hope I got Takuto's personality down like you wanted it even though he didn't say or do much in this chapter (which I apologize for, but this is just his introductory chapter. He'll get more in future chapters).**

**Next time: Judai, Sho, Hayato, and Takeo get together for a night of scary stories when Daitokuji joins in and speaks of an closed-off dorm. The Osiris students decide to check it out, but when two Dark Duelists appear, will the boys be able to escape?**

**Please R&R, everyone!**

**PS: I'm no longer accepting OCs for this season as I've already decide on the "Shadow Rider" character from the ones sent to me.**


	5. Turn 5

**A/N: Greetings, foolish mortals. Tonight will be a treat for the senses. As tonight is the night of evil, prepare yourselves for a double dosing of Demons as we take a trip into Hell.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. I DO however, own my two OCs Ikeda Takeo and Sakamoto Hikari while Seta Takuto belongs to my friend The Duelist Of Dawn.**

**

* * *

-Turn 5- **

This night on the Duel Academia island was a night with a full moon, and deep in the forest stood a run-down building that could resemble a dorm of some sort. The entrance had a "Do Not Enter" sign chained across the gate and standing in front of it was Tenjoin Asuka. The Obelisk Blue girl walked closer to the gate, but instead of entering, she knelt down by one of the stone pillars and placed a single red rose on the ground before standing back up and staring at the ruined building.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the mess hall of the Osiris Red dorm, Judai, Takeo, Sho, and Hayato gathered to tell scary stories using a deck of cards and their only source of light being a single lit candle. Currently, Sho was in the middle of his story.

"On a cliff on the north part of this island, there's…" Sho said, pausing to build suspension. "…a cave."

"Yeah, go on," Judai said, wanting So to continue as Hayato agreed and Takeo just sat with his legs up on the table.

"Deep in the cave is a small inlet…" Sho continued. "…and when night falls, moonlight will shine in from the ceiling."

"Yeah? Yeah?" Hayato said.

"Then, when you look in at the bottom of the inlet, a card you want shows up in the bottom of the water…" Sho continued. "…and they say when you reach for it… you'll suddenly get yourself pulled into the ocean!"

To add emphasis, Sho raised his arms into the air like he was drowning, but Takeo just scoffed at Sho's story.

"I wanna go see that inlet!" Judai said enthusiastically.

"_Aniki_, aren't you mixed up? I just told you a _scary_ story," Sho said, wondering why Judai and Takeo weren't the least bit scared, but Hayato had moved to the far back of the room, cowering in the corner.

"Well, I guess that's the best a Level-4 story can offer, huh?" Judai wondered as he picked up the card that was sitting in front of Sho, the Level-4 _Earthbound Spirit_. "You're up, Takeo."

"If I really have to," Takeo said as he put his feet on the floor and Hayato sat back at the table.

"You did join us so you can't back out now," Judai pointed out with a grin as he put Sho's card facedown on the table.

"Fine," Takeo groaned as he reached for the deck and pulled the top card, revealing it to be the Level-7 _Sword Hunter_.

"Oh! Level-7! This one should be good!" Judai said, feeling excited for a good spooky story, but Takeo just leaned back in his seat.

"To be honest, I'm not that good at telling stories," Takeo admitted, earning sighs of relief from Sho and Hayato since they won't be scared.

"At least give it a try," Judai said, to which Takeo started to think.

"Well, I may have a story, but I'm not sure if it would count as a scary story," Takeo said.

"We won't know unless you tell it," Judai said with a grin.

"Alright. A long time ago, there was a little orphan boy. But he was no ordinary boy, for he was born with a very rare power known as psychokinesis," Takeo started.

"Psychokinesis?" Judai repeated.

"You know, like moving things with your mind or telepathy," Sho explained.

"Oh, I see," Judai nodded in understanding.

"The boy was constantly ostracized by others for his strange powers, but ignored them as best he could. His only friends were a deck of Duel Monsters cards," Takeo continued. "However, the harassing grew steadily worse until his deck, his only friends, were threatened of being taken away and destroyed. This enraged the boy and his psychokinetic powers burst out of him, bringing the monsters of his cards to life and in an instant, everything within a 10-mile radius was vaporized. Only the boy and his deck survived…"

The other three Osiris students just looked at Takeo with their mouths agape. It wasn't necessarily a scary story, but it did send shivers down the spines of Sho and Hayato. Judai on the other hand was just speechless.

"Like I said, I'm no good at telling stories so you guys can take it as a scary story or not, it's up to you," Takeo said as he put his card down and his feet back up on the table.

"I wouldn't exactly say scary, but it's definitely a strange story," Judai finally said before reaching for the deck. "Right, it's my turn."

Judai pulled the top card and turned it over, revealing it to be the Level-1 _Killer Snake_ monster.

"Oh, _Killer Snake_, huh?" Judai said, a little disappointed to get a low-level card.

"Tch, a Level-1? Must be nice making up an easy story…" Sho sighed as Judai chuckled.

"Let's see… my Level-1 story…" Judai mused as he put the card down. "Hmm… come to think of it, back when I was a tyke, when night came around, I could hear my monster's voices… Just like the fairies you'd see in fairy tales. I thought the monsters would come out of their cards to have parties and stuff while I was sleeping. When I woke up in the dead of night, I would open up my card case."

"And?" Sho asked, wondering if there was more to the story.

"Absolutely nada," Judai answered with a slight grin.

"Oh, _come on_…" Sho and Hayato sighed at not getting even a bit of a scare.

"But, you know, lately… I'm able to hear 'em again…" Judai thought aloud as he remembered his _Winged Kuriboh_ card, but then the students heard someone laughing behind them.

"What are you all doing-_nya_?" the voice of Professor Daitokuji asked, to which all four students turned to see the Professor was standing right behind Judai and Takeo with Pharaoh in his arms.

Sho had fallen out of his seat as Judai clutched the table while Hayato scurried back to the other side of the room and Takeo just sat in his seat, not even the least bit spooked.

"You scared us!" Sho yelped.

"Please don't scare us like that…" Judai said, his voice trembling a little.

"Daitokuji-_sensei_!" Sho whined.

"Huh?" the dorm leader wondered as a sweatdrop appeared on his head.

"_Sensei_, we're playing a game where you tell a scary story equal to the Level of the card you draw," Sho explained as he sat back up and adjusted his glasses.

"That sounds like fun-_nya_! Now, let's see here… I'll do it too…" Daitokuji said, wanted to get in on the fright-fest as he picked up the top card and turned it over, revealing the rare and powerful Level-12 _Five God Dragon_!

"T-There it is! A Level-12!" Judai exclaimed.

'_Where the hell did these guys get a card _that_ strong_?' Takeo mentally shouted as his eyes widened a little.

"Please give us the best you've got, sir!" Sho said, edging on the Professor as the dark-haired man laughed a little.

"Come to think of it, are you aware that there is an abandoned dorm deep within this island-_nya_?" Daitokuji asked.

"Abandoned dorm?" Judai repeated.

"Yes. Apparently, it was a dorm for the academy's honor students long ago, but… every single student in that dorm went missing-_nya_," Daitokuji explained.

"Really?" Sho asked.

"I heard they were doing all sorts of research concerning the _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ in that dorm-_nya_," Daitokuji answered.

"_Y-Yami-no-G__ëmu_?" Hayato repeated.

"I'm referring to horrible games that were activated by legendary items-_nya_," Daitokuji explained, only to earn a scoff from Judai.

"The _Millennium_ Items, right?" Judai asked, already getting bored of the story. "But it's all just superstition, isn't it?"

"I don't know if it's true, either-_nya_," Daitokuji confessed with a laugh before readjusting his glasses. "By the time I came to this academy, that dorm had been made off-limits-_nya_."

The tired meow of Pharaoh then caught the attention of all five humans in the room.

"It's about time we get back to our rooms-_nya_," Daitokuji said as he got up froma stool he had pulled over. "Well then, good night."

"Yes, sir…" the four Osiris students said reluctantly as Daitokuji walked outside.

"Man, I wonder if there's really a place like that on this island," Sho said.

"Sounds fun! Let's go take a look tomorrow night!" Judai said enthusiastically.

"Huh?"

"I'm a bit scared, but I'd like to go, too," Hayato said ashe snuck up behind Sho, scaring the blue-haired Osiris once he turned around and saw his chubby roommate.

"I guess I wouldn't mind seeing the place," Takeo shrugged.

"All right! It's settled!" Judai cheered.

"It's settled…!" Hayato agreed, but was still a little scared from the story.

"Yeah…" Sho groaned, not entirely sure about the idea.

But the Osiris students had no idea that someone was eavesdropping on their night of fun.

"Bravo! The _Yami-no-G__ëmu_! I almost forgot about that approach!" Professor Chronos happily mused to himself. '_If I use those rumors to make the dropout boy disappear, no one will suspect a thing!_'

* * *

Meanwhile, in a back alley of Domino City, a duel was currently ending as fog crept around the field. A large man wearing a black trenchcoat and mask lifted up a gold item as light shone from it. The man's opponent, another man with no hair and wearing glasses, was clutching his chest as though he were in pain.

"This is a _Yami-no-G__ëmu_…" the man said in pain as he looked into the eye of the golden item.

"Take this. Mind Crush!" the man with the mask shouted as a bright flash of white emitted from the gold item.

The man's opponent raised his arms to block out the light, but was unsuccessful before losing consciousness and collapsing to the ground.

"You shall leave all of your rare cards here," the large man said to his fallen opponent as he put the gold item into his coat before walking forward. "They are no longer of use to you, anyway."

However, before the man could take the cards, his phone started to ring. He then stopped to answer it.

"Yes, I am the _Yami-no-Duelist_, Titan," the large man answered. "Duel Academia?"

As the man hung up his phone, he heard footsteps approaching him.

"Another contract, Titan?" the voice belonging to the footsteps asked, to which Titan nodded.

"And what's better is we have two targets on the island of Duel Academia, so we can both have one," Titan answered. "That is, if you're up to it, Hades."

The person Titan was talking to was another man, though a bit slimmer than himself, and wore a dark cloak and a mask very similar to Titan's. Unlike Titan, the other man, Hades, didn't wear a hat, but instead had short hair slightly spiked up with a short ponytail at the back. Around his neck was an exact copy of the gold item Titan had used on his previous opponent.

"Definitely. Been a while since we've had a double-hit, partner," Hades answered with a grin on his face.

* * *

The following day at Duel Academia, Judai, Sho and Takeo were in Professor Daitokuji's class, the former two sleeping and snoring, earning glares from a few nearby students in the near-empty classroom. But from out in the hall, Professor Chronos was watching them through a crack in the door.

'_Sleep well, now,_' Chronos muttered to himself with a laugh and a grin on his face. '_It will be the last dream you ever have, anyway. _Totocalcio_…_'

* * *

Later that night, Professor Chronos was standing at the docks, waiting for Titan to arrive. When the blonde faculty member heard approaching footsteps, he turned to see the large, dark-clothed man approach him.

"Oh, you must be the self-proclaimed _Yami-no-Duelist_," Chronos greeted.

"Let's get right to discussing our appearance fee," Titan said as a thick fog poured out from his coat.

"_Our_?" Chronos repeated.

"I'm here too," Hades said as he walked out from behind Titan, spooking Professor Chronos. "Or did you not know Titan had a partner?"

"My apologies," Chronos said, still spooked at how well hidden Hades was.

"Our appearance fee is a flat rate," Titan continued. "It has nothing to do with whatever circumstances our client might have."

Hades then held up six fingers, three from each hand.

"Six months of our client's salary, three for each of us," Hades said with a smirk on his face.

"I think that's _very_ related to your client's circumstances…" Chronos said, his eyes bugged out at having to pay half of his year's salary before calming down while the fog crept along the docks toward Chronos. "Whatever… More importantly, will you really get the job done?"

"We're pros. We never turn our backs to our enemies," Titan answered.

"And we watch each other's backs, so no one gets the drop on us," Hades added in and standing back-to-back with Titan before Professor Chronos started circling the two men, the both of them merely turning their heads to watch where Chronos went.

"_Yokobai_? _Rarabai_?" Chronos muttered nonsense while circling the men.

"Just leave it to us…" Titan said as Hades walked out from behind him again.

"Just make sure you bring the money once we're done," Hades added as the fog slowly pulled back, taking the two men with it.

"They _aren't_ turning their backs…" Chronos said, rather impressed. "My, they _are_ professionals."

* * *

"Still, I was expecting that Hayato would show up with us," Judai said as he and the other three Osiris students walked through the forest towards the location of the abandoned dorm, Hayato carrying a backpack and Takeo with his Duel Disk on his wrist and deck at his waist like always. "You even think showing up to class is a hassle."

"It's not that I don't like staying home or studying, it's just…" Hayato started.

"Just what?" Judai asked.

"I don't like classes that only teach you how to win duels…" Hayato answered.

"Is there any other way to study dueling, besides how to win?" Sho asked.

"Um… I'm sure there are! Take the _Yami-no-G__ëmu_, for example," Hayato said.

"The _Yami-no-G__ëmu,_ huh?" Judai repeated, getting bored of hearing the subject.

'_Hayato actually doesn't have the wrong idea. Even my being a Psycho Duelist could be considered another way of studying dueling,_' Takeo mentally noted.

As the students approached the corroding dorm, Judai's light stopped at a single rose laying against one of the stone pillars of the gate.

"That flower…" Judai said curiously.

"This looks scary!" Sho whined, getting freaked out already. "_Aniki_, I think we should just give up!"

"What are you talking about?" Judai asked, wondering about Sho's sudden fear of the area even after agreeing to go with them.

"It's just a flower and a dilapidated building," Takeo shrugged.

"How can we give up after coming this far?" Judai asked his height-challenged friend.

'_Turning around and going back the way we came?_' Takeo joked in his head, but the sound of a snapping twig caught the boys' attention.

"I-It's here!" Sho and Hayato yelled in fear while Judai turned and pointed his flashlight at the source of the sound to reveal it to be…

"Asuka!" Judai said, surprised to see the Obelisk girl, but soon felt immense pain on his back from Sho and Hayato having jumped on him as Takeo stepped aside before they could jump on him.

"A-Asuka-_san_!" Sho greeted, but was also surprised to see the girl.

"Asuka-_san_!" the five students heard a girl's voice call out before another Obelisk girl walked into the light.

"So you're here too, Hikari," Takeo semi-greeted the blue-eyed Obelisk girl while Judai threw his two friends off his back. "Why are you two here?"

"That's our line. What are all of _you_ doing here?" Asuka countered.

"We're doing a little night exploration," Judai answered casually.

"You four have no idea how much trouble you could be in just by being here, do you," Hikari figured.

"Or about how many students have gone missing?" Asuka asked.

"I don't believe in that superstition," Judai waved off Asuka's warning.

"Trust me, all the stories you may have heard about this dorm are true," Hikari said.

"It's not a place to come to half in sport," Asuka added. "And as Hikari-_san_ said, it's off-limits."

"If anyone at the academy hears about this, you'll be sure to get some unwanted attention," Hikari pointed out.

"We wouldn't be exploring if we were afraid of that," Judai said with a grin on his face.

"Listen to us, _seriously_!" both girls shouted in unison.

"What? Stop giving us such a hard time," Judai said, wondering what got the girls angry all of a sudden. "And _you_ two never answered our question! What are you doing here?"

"Do what you want…" Asuka said with an irritated sigh before turning around to leave.

"Asuka-_san_…" Sho said, worried about the Obelisk Queen, to which she stopped after taking a few steps.

"My brother was one of the students that disappeared here," Asuka said, answering Judai's and Takeo's question before both boys looked back at the rose laying on the ground.

'_So, that's it. Asuka set that rose over there…_' both boys thought at the same time.

'_It seems like a personal matter, but…_' Takeo thought to himself before turning his attention to Hikari. "Why exactly are you here? This seems a little personal to Asuka."

"If you must know, Asuka-_san_'s my friend and she trusts me with this," Hikari said as Asuka disappeared from view. "I come here with her sometimes to make sure she doesn't fall apart."

The boys felt a little sympathy as Hikari turned around and ran off to catch up with Asuka.

"_Aniki_, about what they just said…" Sho muttered. "I thought the stuff about this place was made up…"

"Well, we'll know once we go in. Let's go," Judai said before he, Hayato and Takeo stepped over the chain that acted as a gate. "You waiting there?"

"Huh?" Sho shouted, just now noticing the three boys were near the door of the building before looking around to make sure no one else was around. "Wait up! I'm coming, too!"

Sho then jumped over the chain and ran after his friends. What the boys didn't know was that Asuka was watching them from behind a tree. When she turned around to leave, a large shadow loomed over her. In her mind she wanted to scream, but she was frozen in fear by the shadow that her body wouldn't listen before she was knocked unconscious. This action didn't go unnoticed however.

"Asuka-_san_!" Hikari shouted as she ran towards her friend, whose body fell to the floor before the giant shadow.

But before Hikari could get any closer, another shadow jumped out from behind her and struck her in the neck, knocking her out cold as well.

* * *

Inside of the rundown dorm, the four boys looked around the rooms after Judai handed out an extra flashlight to each of them. Currently they were in a room with some carvings on the walls.

"It may be all dusty, but it's a major difference from Osiris Red, huh?" Judai asked, impressed with the inside of the dorm. "Wanna move here instead?"

"Cut that out, _aniki_! I absolutely _won't_!" Sho argued.

"Same here," Hayato said, agreeing with the smaller Osiris.

"Let's cut the chatter shall we?" Takeo said as he walked ahead, pointing his flashlight at the walls, showing carvings of what looking like ancient items and Egyptian hieroglyphics. '_What in the world?_'

"D-Did they really play _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ here?" Hayato wondered.

"T-That's just superstition!" Sho said with fear in his voice.

"Are these things those _Millennium Items_ Daitokuji and Judai mentioned back at the dorm last night?" Takeo asked himself as he placed his free hand on the carvings.

As soon as his hand made contact with the stone slab, a pulse was sent through the Psycho Duelist's body, causing his eyes to widen as a massive amount of information flooded into his head. As soon as Takeo managed to pull his hand away from the stone, he realized he had obtained information about the _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ and Millennium Items.

'_Wh-What the hell _was_ that?_' Takeo shouted in his head before looking at the tablets on the wall in front of him. '_Seven Millennium Items… Puzzle, Eye, Ring, Scale, Key, Scepter, and Tauk…_'

"Huh… there were seven of those Millennium Items…" Judai muttered to himself as he looked at another carving, but when he turned to check something else, his flashlight landed on a picture that caught Judai's attention.

The picture hanging on the wall was of a young man in an Obelisk Blue uniform and brown hair that stopped at his shoulders. Written in the bottom corner of the picture was "FUBUKI 10 JOIN".

"Is this…?" Judai wondered as he walked closer to the picture to make sure he wasn't seeing things while focusing on the name.

* * *

Somewhere else, deep in the dorm, Asuka slowly opened her eyes and found her arms were tied together at the wrists.

"What's this?" Asuka shouted, hoping someone would answer, to which she heard laughing before finding out she was placed inside a coffin and even her legs were tied together at her ankles.

"You're going to be the bait that will lure out Yuki Judai," a voice echoed through the room, barely answering Asuka's question.

"Who's there?" Asuka asked the voice.

Instead of the voice answering back, Asuka was met with a blinding flash of light, causing her to scream as she closed her eyes to try and block out the light.

* * *

At the same time, at another location inside of the decaying building, Hikari's eyes slowly opened before widening in shock.

"What the?" Hikari shouted, seeing that she was looking directly at the floor before she looked around to see that her arms and legs were tied to one of the vertical wooden beams of the building. "Someone get me down from here!"

"Now why would I go and do that? After all, you're here to lure out Ikeda Takeo," a voice spoke out.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Hikari shouted at the owner of the voice, but instead was met with a blinding flash of light, causing her to scream before her consciousness faded.

* * *

The four Osiris boys stopped looking around when they heard two sets of screams echo through the building.

"_Aniki_! Those voices just now…!" Sho said.

"I know! Let's go!" Judai replied before all four of them ran down the hallway.

'_That other scream…. I can only guess that she's gotten into some kind of trouble,_' Takeo mentally told himself.

The four boys continued to run through the dorm until they reached a fork in the road, so to speak.

"Which way do we go now?" Hayato wondered.

"I'll take this way," Takeo said as he looked down the right hallway. "You three go the other way."

"Hold on, why are you going alone?" Judai asked.

"I have my reasons. Now get going!" Takeo answered before running down the right hallway.

"Looks like we don't have a choice," Sho said, but it was obvious he was concerned about Takeo going off on his own.

"Come on, let's get a move on," Judai said before Sho and Hayato nodded in agreement and followed Judai down the left hallway.

* * *

The three Osiris boys arrived in another room that had some furniture covered in sheets, but as the boys moved their flashlights, they spotted an area of the floor that had been disturbed rather recently. They then quickly ran down the set of nearby stairs and towards the area before noticing a card. Judai then knelt down and picked it up before gasping.

"This is Asuka's _Etoile Cyber_!" Judai said in shock, wondering why her card was in such a place, much less away from her.

"There's marks of something being dragged away going that way," Hayato said as he pointed down another hallway.

"Asuka!" Judai shouted as he ran down the hall after putting the card in his pocket.

"Asuka-_san_!" Sho shouted as he and Hayato ran after Judai.

* * *

As Takeo continued down his path, he spotted something laying at the bottom of a set of stairs.

'_Could that be…?_' Takeo asked himself in his head before running over the object, which was a card, and turned it over before glaring at it. '_Looks like I'm right. This is Hikari's_ Gellenduo_ card…_'

Takeo then turned his light up the stairway.

'_Only one place left to go_,' Takeo thought to himself before rushing up the stairs.

* * *

Judai, Sho and Hayato soon found themselves in a large room that appeared to have been dug out long ago. And at the other side of the room in a coffin surrounded by fog was…

"Asuka!" Judai called out to the unconscious girl, but a dark laugh filled the room.

"This one's soul has already sunk into a thick darkness," a voice spoke out.

"Who's there?" Judai asked as, rising up from the fog, was Titan.

"Welcome, Yuki Judai…" Titan greeted the brunette Osiris.

"_Aniki_," Sho spoke up, feeling something foreboding about Titan.

"Who the hell are you? What did you do to Asuka?" Judai shouted at the dark-garbed man.

"My name is Titan, the _Yami-no-Duelist_, a controller of the _Yami-no-G__ëmu_," Titan answered.

"_Yami-no-G__ëmu_?" Hayato repeated.

"Stop messing with me!" Judai continued to shout. "There's no such thing as _Yami-no-G__ëmu_!"

"Once you get a taste of it, you'll understand, kid," Titan said with a chuckle. "This is a forbidden domain wherein none are allowed to step foot. I will deal punishment on those who break that vow."

"So it's _your_ fault that the people here have gone missing!" Judai figured as Hayato started digging through his backpack. "You're going to give us Asuka back!"

"If you can beat me in a _Yami-no-G__ëmu_, that is, Yuki Judai…" Titan challenged, earning a snarl from Judai as a response before the brunette noticed Hayato was holding out a Duel Disk, which he then took and strapped on.

"It'd be my pleasure!" Judai said, accepting Titan's challenge and taking his position across from the large man.

"You'd better not regret this, kid," Titan said as he lifted his arm, causing the board of a Duel Disk to appear from within his armlet in the shape of a demonic wing.

Judai responded by ejecting the board of his Duel Disk and sliding in his pre-shuffled deck, causing it to activate before glancing at Asuka.

"Asuka, I'm going to save you," Judai quietly swore.

"Duel!" both duelists said before drawing their starting five cards.

Titan: 4000

Judai: 4000

"I'll make the first move. Draw," Titan said as he moved his hand up to his chest, which is where the deck part of his Duel Disk was attached and as card ejected itself into his hand. "I summon _Inferno-Queen Demon_ in Attack mode!"

As Titan played his card, a demonic monster wearing purple robes and red armor with gold wings appeared. (4/900/1500)

"A _Demon_ deck, huh?" Judai wondered as the monster appeared.

"When this card is on the field, it increases the ATK of a "_Demon_" monster by 1000 points," Titan explained.

"Which means…!" Sho gasped in shock at Titan's monster was empowered by its own effect. (4/900-1900/1500)

"A _Demon_ deck is a really powerful kind of deck," Judai admitted. "But it comes with a high price of constantly pay out of your Life during each of your Standby Phases to keep your monsters out."

"A price, you say?" Titan said with a chuckle. "That won't be necessary. Not in the presence of this card… Field Magic, activate!"

Titan grabbed another card out of his hand and slid it into a slot on his armlet, causing it to release a flash of blinding light, to which the three Osiris boys tried to block out by raising their arms. When the light faded, the room changed to a red color as statues of skeletons rose in each corner of the room. In the middle of the floor was a small pool of lava.

"Where are we?" Judai asked as Sho and Hayato looked around in surprise.

"Let's just say it's the Edge of Hell, for now," Titan answered. "I've activated the Field Magic, _Pandemonium – The Den Of Demons_."

"_Pandemonium_?" Judai repeated.

"Yes. This card will prevent the cost to maintain my _Demon_ deck from happening and give monsters with "_Demon_" in their names the ability to be reborn when destroyed outside of battle," Titan explained. "Now, it's your turn."

Titan's hand: 4

"Whoa, now. If you're so concerned about the girl, then allow me to put her out of your sight," Titan said as he noticed Judai taking glances towards Asuka, to which he lifted his left arm.

The lid of the coffin then closed and claw-like thorns rose out of the ground, grabbing the coffin and pulling it underground.

"Asuka!" Judai shouted.

"That's low!" Hayato yelled at Titan.

"You coward!" Sho joined in, to which Titan only chuckled again.

"Say what you will. This is a _Yami-no-G__ëmu_. If you prefer, I'll make you disappear, as well!" Titan threatened, causing the two Osiris boys to back down.

"All I have to do is win… Draw!" Judai said as he pulled his sixth card and scanned his hand. '_I don't have a monster that could beat an ATK of 1900 in my hand, but…_' "I summon _Elemental Hero Featherman_ in Attack mode!"

As Judai played his card, the familiar green feathered hero appeared on the field. (3/1000/1000)

"And then, I set two facedown cards to end my turn," Judai said as two reversed cards appeared behind _Featherman_.

Judai's hand: 3

"It's my turn. Draw," Titan said as a card ejected into his hand. "I'll summon _Genocide-King Demon_ this time."

As Titan played his next card, a monster similar to _Inferno-Queen Demon_ appeared, but this monster had red skin and wore a red cape. (4/2000/1500)

"_Genocide-King Demon_ cannot be summoned unless a "_Demon_" monster is on my field. However, I have _Inferno-Queen Demon_ on my field. And _Inferno-Queen Demon_'s special effect will increase _Genocide-King Demon_'s ATK!" Titan explained as the female monster powered up its new ally. (4/2000-3000/1500)

"A-An ATK of 3000?" Judai yelled in surprise at the strength of Titan's second monster.

"Feel the anger of my _Demons_! _Genocide-King Demon_, attack _Featherman_! _**Sakuretsu**_**! **_**Gozo-roppu**_**!**" Titan commanded.

The royal _Demon_ monster then puffed out his chest before it literally burst open and a swarm of insects flew towards the winged hero.

"Too easy! I activate a Trap card!" Judai countered as one of his facedown cards rose. "_Different-Dimensional Tunnel – Mirror Gate_!"

The card that rose was one of the last cards Judai had used in his first duel with Manjoume, the artwork showing a spiraling tunnel of mirrors. A swirling shield then appeared in front of _Featherman_.

"This card's effect will swap the positions of both monsters during battle, and then resume the battle! And that means that the 3000-ATK _Genocide-King Demon_ will be my monster!" Judai explained.

"_Aniki_!" Sho cheered.

"Nice move!" Hayato said.

"I knew that you were using your smallfry monster as bait to ambush me with a Trap from the very start," Titan said with a smirk.

"What?" Judai asked.

"Your petty tricks won't work on my _Demon_ deck. To chain to your _Different-Dimensional Tunnel_ Trap, I'll activate _Genocide-King Demon_'s special ability!" as Titan announced the activation of his monster's effect, six small orbs flew out of the lava pool in the middle of the floor and hovered beside Titan.

"W-What's that?" Judai dared to ask.

"_Genocide-King Demon_'s special ability is, when targeted by an opponent's effect, it lets me roll a die. And if it lands on a 2 or 5, it'll negate and destroy that effect! For this duel, I'll be using this roulette instead of a die," Titan explained. "Now, my Rulette of Hell, carry his destiny and begin to turn!"

As Titan finished his sentence, a small ball of fire ignited within the circle of orbs. The fire then expanded, engulfing the orbs before surrounding only the number 1 orb. The small fireball then started to travel through the numbers in a circle.

"If it lands on a 2 or 5, his Trap will be destroyed," Hayato said, slightly worried about Judai's chances.

"The odds are 1-in-3!" Sho said, liking the odds until the fireball stopped.

"The Roulette landed on a 2. Therefore, _Genocide-King Demon_'s special ability activates! _Different-Dimensional Tunnel_ is destroyed!" Titan stated as _Featherman_'s shield dispersed. "_**Sakuretsu**_**! **_**Gozo-roppu**_**!**"

The insects flew forward and started attacking _Featherman_ until the green hero exploded and disappeared from the field.

"_Featherman_!" Judai called out to his fallen hero.

Titan: 4000

Judai: 2000

"But now, I activate my Trap card! _Hero Signal_!" Judai said as his second facedown card rose. "When a monster's destroyed in battle, this card will special-summon an "_Elemental Hero_" monster from my hand or deck! Come on out, _Elemental Hero Clayman_! Defense mode!"

As Judai pulled a card from his deck and played it, the hero of stone materialized onto the field before taking a defensive stance. (4/800/2000) Judai then shuffled his deck again and put it back into its slot.

"Awright!" Sho cheered.

"He managed to pull through with that follow-up attack!" Hayato said in awe.

"We'll just see about that," Titan chuckled as he lifted a gold upside-down pyramid-like item, the eye shining brightly as the boys tried to block it out. "Begin to vanish. Your body will gradually disappear in accordance to your Life Points."

"Judai!" Hayato called out.

"_Aniki_!" Sho shouted.

"My body…" Judai gasped as when he looked down at himself, parts of his body had vanished.

"Kid, didn't I tell you? That this _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ has already begun?" Titan mildly laughed.

"Is this really a _Yami-no-G__ëmu_?" Judai asked himself.

"The enshrouding black fog… The heavy, black fog is engulfing you all. Hard to breathe now, isn't it?" Titan asked as a black fog had indeed covered the field and both Hayato and Sho held their throats in pain.

"What's this choking us?" Hayato strained to ask.

"It's the pressure of the _Yami-no-G__ëmu_," Titan answered. "Your legs will no longer move, so no one will be able to run away from this game."

"He's right! I can't budge my legs!" Sho said.

"Squirm… suffer… But the moment when you'll find yourselves longing for the suffering is approaching. For what awaits the loser of a _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ is eternal darkness," Titan said.

"No!" Judai shouted. "I don't believe that! I've heard that to play a _Yami-no-G__ëmu_, you need to have a Millennium Item! Do you have one?"

"Behold. This is the legendary item, the Millennium Puzzle," Titan answered as he lifted the gold pyramid as the eye started to shine. "It proves this is a _Yami-no-G__ëmu_."

"What?"

"That's a… Millennium Item!" Hayato gasped a confirmation.

"My turn is finished," Titan stated. "Come on, kid. It's your turn."

Titan's hand: 4

'_Shit. This really is a __Yami-no-G__ëmu. I'm not too sure, but I have a horribly bad feeling about this. But…!_' Judai said in his head as a smile appeared on the boy's face.

'_He's smiling… why?_' Titan wondered.

"I've never had a duel as exciting as this one! I'm absolutely on fire! Here I go! My turn!" Judai shouted, feeling a rush of adrenaline as he pulled his next card. "I activate the Magic card, _Pot Of Greed_!"

Judai then put his card into the Cemetery slot before drawing two more cards.

"I'll fuse the _Elemental Hero Sparkman_ in my hand with the _Clayman_ on the field!" Judai continued as he played the _Fusion_ card before sending all three cards to his Cemetery. "I summon _Elemental Hero Thunder Giant_!"

Both _Sparkman_ and _Clayman_ disappeared into a swirling vortex and, with a flash of lightning and a crackle of thunder, the giant yellow hero that had defeated Asuka emerged onto the field. (6/2400/1500)

"_Thunder Giant_'s special ability activates! It can destroy a monster with an original ATK that's lower than its own!" Judai explained. "Go, _Thunder Giant_! **Vapor Spark!**"

The giant hero threw his right arm forward and released a torrent of electricity at _Genocide-King Demon_, but it suddenly started to slow down.

"What?" Judai shouted just as his monster's attack stopped completely, as if frozen in time.

"Once again, _Genocide-King Demon_'s special ability activates. Turn, Roulette of Destiny!" Titan said as the six orbs floating beside him ignited and the fireball started to travel through the numbers again.

"The odds of the attack going through are 2-in-3," Sho noted. "It _has_ to be this one!"

Unfortunately, the fireball stopped on the number 5 orb.

"What the-?" Judai shouted in disbelief while Titan laughed.

"Once again, the Roulette of Destiny has sided with me. That means the monster getting destroyed, kid, is going to be yours!" Titan said as he pointed at _Thunder Giant_ before the electric current was reflected as struck the large hero, destroying him instantly.

"Shit… to think _Thunder Giant_ would get killed off so easily…" Judai cursed.

"_Aniki_!" Sho said worriedly.

'_A _Demon_ deck… its true terror is its ability to counter,_' Hayato stated in his head. '_The power to not only negate the effects that befall them, but destroy cards that activated their special effects… If the roulette lands on the right one, then his deck will be an absolute horror! What are you gonna do, Judai?_'

* * *

At the same time that Judai was about the start his duel, Takeo had reached the top of the stairs only to find himself in what looked like an attic. He looked around the dark room until he spotted a familiar person tied to one of the wooden beams.

"Just great. Look at the mess you've gotten yourself into. And now I have to bail you out," Takeo said to Hikari as he walked towards her, but before he spoke again he noticed she was unconscious. "What the?"

"So you're finally here," a voice spoke out, earning Takeo's attention.

"And just who might you be?" Takeo asked.

As an answer, Hades stepped out with his hands in his coat pockets and a smirk on his face.

"The name's Hades. I'm a _Yami-no-Duelist_ and player of the _Yami-no-G__ëmu_," Hades introduced himself.

"_Yami-no-G__ëmu_?" Takeo repeated.

"That's right," Hades said and then glanced at the unconscious Hikari. "And don't worry about her. She hasn't been swallowed by the darkness yet, but she will shortly."

"Who said I was worried?" Takeo said.

"What?"

"Quite frankly I don't really care about these people. They do nothing but cause trouble for me," Takeo said.

"Then why did you come up here?" Hades asked out of curiosity.

"I don't need to explain my reasons. But I do know you want to duel me, am I right?" Takeo asked.

"Yeah, that's right. You've stepped into a sacred area and as punishment your soul will be engulfed by the darkness," Hades said as he lifted a gold upside-down pyramid, the exact same as Titan's.

"Alright then, I guess I could do with a little entertainment," Takeo said as the board of his Duel Disk shot out.

"You think you'll be entertained? You think wrong," Hades said as his own Duel Disk activated, the board shaped like a bladed pendulum.

"Duel!"

Hades: 4000

Takeo: 4000

"I'll make the first move. Draw!" Hades said as he drew his first six cards and Takeo drew five. "I'll start things off by playing the Field Magic, _Pandemonium – The Den Of Demons_!"

As Hades played his card, the attic started to shift to look like the interior of a lair as skeletal statues rose and a small pool of lava appeared in the middle of the floor.

"With this card on the field, I won't have to pay Life Points to keep "_Demon_" monsters on the field and if any of my "_Demon_" monsters are destroyed outside of battle I can add another from my deck," Hades explained. "Next I'll summon _Hell's Watchbear_ in Defense mode!"

As Hades played his next card, a large red bear with spikes jutting out of its back and chains acting as its leash and collar appeared. (4/1300/1800)

"As long as this monster remains on my field, _Pandemonium_ can't be destroyed by my opponent's card effects!" Hades explained.

'_So he'll use either a _Demon_ deck or a _Pandemonium_ deck,_' Takeo thought to himself, not reading Hades' mind just to make things more interesting for himself. '_But that was a bit of a useless move on his part since I don't have any cards in my deck that can destroy Magic or Trap cards._'

"Turn end," Hades said.

Hades' hand: 4

"My turn then. Draw!" Takeo said, pulling his sixth card and scanning his hand. '_I don't have anything strong enough to take down his _Watchbear_ right now, but at least I can do this..._' "I summon _Pandaborg_ in Attack mode!"

As Takeo played his card, a panda robot materialized onto the field. (4/1700/1400)

"You sure have a weird monster there, kid," Hades said.

"Turn end," Takeo said.

Takeo's hand: 5

"Just a single monster and nothing to protect it? You must've gotten a bad hand, which is good for me. Draw!" Hades said as he drew his next card and grinned. "I summon my _General Demon_ in Attack mode!"

As Hades played his card, a monster appeared that looked like its skin was nothing more than orange muscle tissue lightly covered in skeletons. The creature had green wings on his back and carried a sword. (4/2100/800)

"This here is one of my most powerful monsters, kid. As long as I have _Pandemonium_ on the field I can summon him. And thanks to my _Hell's Watchbear_ my Field Magic can't be destroyed," Hades explained. "And now your monster's about to die. _General Demon_, destroy his monster!"

The orange _Demon_ charged ahead and raised its sword before cleaving _Pandaborg_ in two, but Takeo didn't even flinch.

Hades: 4000

Takeo: 3600

"I activate my _Pandaborg_'s Monster effect! When it's killed in battle and sent to my Cemetery, I can pay 800 Life Points to special-summon a Level-4 Psychic-type monster from my deck!"

"Psychic-type?" Hades repeated, having not heard of such a card type.

At the mention of Psychic-types, however, Hikari, who was now tied to one of the statues of _Pandemonium_, slowly opened her eyes.

"Huh? Where am I?" Hikari asked herself before noticing Takeo dueling Hades. "Takeo? What are you doing here?"

"Apparently to save you, but I have to beat this guy first," Takeo answered before pulling out his deck and searching through it.

"Couldn't you have at least gotten me down from here?" Hikari shouted as she struggled against the ropes.

"I choose my _Enhanced Humanity, Psycho_ in Attack mode!" Takeo announced, ignoring Hikari, as he placed his selected card on his Duel Disk before shuffling his deck and placing it back.

The new monster to appear was, like Takeo's previous monster, a robot, but this time it was humanoid and completely blue with one red eye. In his hands he carried a strange energy-based weapon. (4/1500/800)

Hades: 4000

Takeo: 2800

"So you summoned a weaker monster than to one before? A poor move I'd say. And now you'll suffer the consequences," Hades said as he held up his gold pyramid, light shining from the eye at its center.

When the light died down, Hades was smirking and Hikari let out a gasp of shock as they both looked at Takeo.

"Takeo! Your body!" Hikari shouted, seeing almost half of Takeo's body gone while the Psycho Duelist looked over himself.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with me," Takeo said.

"Are you stupid? Can't you see that you're disappearing?" Hikari shouted.

'_Disappearing? Right, this is supposed to be a _Yami-no-Gëmu_, so something should be happening to us. Hikari said my body's vanishing, but I can't see anything,_' Takeo thought to himself as a small grin appeared on his face. '_I get it. But I still have to win._'

"Turn end," Hades said smugly.

Hades' hand: 4

"My turn. Draw!" Takeo said as he drew his next card. "I summon _Psycho Commander_ in Attack mode!"

As Takeo played his card, his tank-driving monster materialized onto the field.

"Now I'll use the monster effect of my _Enhanced Humanity, Psycho_! Up to twice per turn, I can remove from play a Psychic-type monster in my Cemetery to increase his ATK by 500! So I'll remove my only monster in my Cemetery, _Pandaborg_," Takeo explained as the card ejected from Takeo's Duel Disk, making his monster on the field grow stronger. (4/1500-2000/800)

"That's it? Even with an ATK increase like that, it's no match for my _General Demon_," Hades said.

"We'll see about that. Battle! _Enhanced Humanity_, attack his _General Demon_!" Takeo commanded.

"You're just digging your own grave! _General Demon_, counterattack!" Hades declared as both monsters charged at each other with their weapons ready to strike.

"Now I activate the Monster effect of my _Psycho Commander_!" Takeo said.

"What?" Hades shouted.

"When one of my Psychic-type monsters battles with an opponent's monster, I can pay Life Points in increments of 100 to a maximum of 500 to decrease the ATK of my opponent's monster by the same amount!" Takeo explained. "And I'll pay the full 500!"

As Takeo's Life Points decreased, so did the ATK of _General Demon_, its sword becoming heavier. (4/2100-1600/800) _Enhanced Humanity, Psycho_ took advantage and smashed its club-like weapon into the monster, destroying it.

Hades: 3600

Takeo: 2300

"And now, during my Main Phase 2, I'll tune my Level-4 _Enhanced Humanity, Psycho_ with my Level-3 _Psycho Commander_!" Takeo announced as his two monsters flew into the air.

"What the?" Hades shouted in shock.

"Telepathic wave, the motions of healing. The souls of the fallen to restore the living. Feel my pain!" Takeo chanted as his two monsters turned into discs and stars before being engulfed by a burst of light. "Synchro-summon! _Psycho Health Trancer_!"

As the two monsters vanished, the new monster to replace them was a slender girl with the left half of her body replaced with mechanical parts. (7/2400/2000) Hades just started wide-eyed in surprise at the form of summoning.

"Now I'll use the Monster effect of my _Health Trancer_! Once per turn, I can remove from play one Psychic-type monster in my Cemetery to increase my Life by 1200! And I'll choose my _Psycho Commander_!" Takeo announced as his monster ejected itself, which he put in his pocket, before _Psycho Health Trancer_ released a soothing pulse of energy that revitalized Takeo.

Hades: 3600

Takeo: 3500

"Turn end," Takeo said.

Takeo's hand: 5

* * *

"Well, all of your monsters on the field have been wiped out," Titan said as he lifted his golden pyramid.

"It's like I can't do a thing against him," Judai said to himself as he picked another card from his hand. "I activate the Magic card, _Mirage Of Nightmare_!"

As the card was played, it rose onto the field, its artwork showing a man being surrounded by Undead-type monsters.

"Next, I set two card facedown to finish my turn," Judai said as two reversed cards appeared in front of him.

Judai's hand: 0

"_Aniki_…" Sho said worriedly.

"You can do it, Yuki Judai," Hayato said.

"You haven't dealt any damage to me in the last two turns. It appears to me that the score is about to be settled. It's my turn," Titan said as a card shot out of his deck and into his hand.

"_Mirage Of Nightmare_'s effect activates! I'll draw cards until I have four in my hand!" Judai said, explaining the effect of his Magic card while drawing four cards.

"I don't care. Even if your hand grows now, this attack of mine will deplete your Life, anyway!" Titan declared. "_Genocide-King Demon_ will attack directly! **Bursting! Internal Organs!**"

Once more, the red-skinned _Demon_'s chest puffed out before bursting open, releasing a swarm of insects at Judai.

"I'm not letting that happen! Trap, activate! _Holy Barrier – Mirror Force_!" Judai announced as one of his reversed cards rose, revealing an invisible barrier reflecting an attack. "This wipes out all enemy Attack-mode monsters!"

"Nice move, Judai!" Hayato cheered. "That won't activate _Genocide-King Demon_'s effect!"

In a brilliant flash of light, a wall of what looked like glass appeared in front of Judai. The insect swarm carelessly flew into it before a stream of fire was shot the other way and struck both _Genocide-King Demon_ and _Infernal-Queen Demon_, destroying them instantly while Titan guarded himself from the blasts.

"You're a stubborn one…" Titan growled.

"That was a careless attack!" Judai shouted back as his _Mirror Force_ faded.

"Even if it was, my victory is still assured," Titan said as he grabbed another card from his hand. "From my hand, I activate _Death-Rook Demon_'s special ability! When _Genocide-King Demon_ is destroyed and sent to the Cemetery, by discarding this card from my hand, _Genocide-King Demon_ is revived!"

As Titan sent his card into his armlet, his red-skinned _Demon_ re-appeared onto the field. (4/2000/1500)

"What?" Judai shouted in surprise.

"Next, the effect of the Field Magic, _Pandemonium_, activates! While this _Demon's Den_ is in play, when a "_Demon_" monster is destroyed outside of battle and sent to the Cemetery, I can add a "_Demon_" monster with a Level lower than that card's from my deck to my hand!" Titan explained as his deck shot out another card into his hand. "I'm still in the middle of my Battle Phase. And that means that my resurrected _Genocide-King Demon_ is allowed to attack! Go, _Genocide-King Demon_!"

Once more, the royal _Demon_'s chest burst open, releasing the insect swarm towards Judai.

"Not good! Is this the end?" Hayato shouted in shock while Sho gasped.

"The Instant Magic, _Emergency __Provisions_!" Judai announced as his other facedown card rose, showing a couple of crackers and two things of canned food. "By destroying one Magic or Trap on my field, I'll recover 1000 Life Points!"

As _Mirage Of Nightmare_ disappeared in a quick flash of light, Judai's Life Points rose just before Titan's attack struck him, which he tried to block with his Duel Disk.

Titan: 4000

Judai: 1000

"What's that?" Titan shouted, irritated at Judai's stubbornness, but the brunette Osiris nearly lost his balance.

"Managed to hang in there…" Judai quietly said to himself.

"I thought he was a goner!" Sho sighed in relief.

"Yuki Judai, you're something else!" Hayato said, impressed with Judai's skill.

'_Shit… I'm slipping more and more into a disadvantage… This guy isn't just talk… he's outrageously strong!_' Judai thought to himself, breathing hard from taking the last attack.

Titan just smirked and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out the golden pyramid.

"Well, kid, since your Life has decreased, your body will fade away even further," Titan said as light shone from the pyramid's eye and more of Judai's right arm disappeared.

"Ah! _Aniki_'s right arm…!" Sho shouted in shock.

"Huh? Isn't it his left leg?" Hayato wondered, thinking the wrong body part had vanished.

Titan's hand: 6

'_Shit… it doesn't matter which one it is!_' "My turn. Draw!" Judai shouted as he pulled his next card. "I activate the Magic card, _Warrior's Return_!"

As Judai sent his Magic card to the Cemetery, another card was ejected.

"I'll return my _Featherman_ to my hand, then fuse it with the _Burstlady_ in my hand!" Judai announced as he threw the two monsters and his second _Fusion_ into his Cemetery, the two monsters appearing briefly onto the field before disappearing into a vortex of electricity. "I summon _Flame Wingman_!"

The electric vortex vanished to reveal the dragon-like hero. (6/2100/1200)

"If effects are no good, I'll take you on in a direct battle!" Judai declared. "Go, _Flame Wingman_! **Flame Shoot!**"

The Fusion Monster responded by thrusting his dragon arm forward, releasing a torrent of fire at the royal _Demon_, engulfing it in flames before destroying it as Titan braced himself.

"And now, _Flame Wingman_'s effect activates! Go ahead and chew on some damage equal to the ATK of the monster destroyed in battle!" Judai shouted.

Electricity the surged around Titan, shocking him as his Life Points finally dropped.

Titan: 1900

Judai: 1000

As Titan's Life Points dropped, parts of his body also began to vanish.

"His left arm disappeared, right?" Sho asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"It's his left… isn't it?" Hayato wondered.

"So, we've been seeing different things?" Sho asked his hefty friend.

"What do you mean?" Hayato asked.

"Still, if this is your best, my _Demon_s will never die," Titan stated as he lifted his hand and took a card from it. "I discard another _Death-Rook Demon_ from my hand…"

Titan slid the card into his armlet as it ejected his royal _Demon_.

"Be reborn a second time, _Genocide-King Demon_!" Titan called as his monster returned. (4/2000/1500)

"No matter _how_ much I kill and kill the thing…" Judai growled in frustraition. "I summon _Dark Catapulter_ in Defense mode!"

As Judai played his card, a mechanical monster appeared and crouched down. (4/1000/1500)

"That finishes my turn!" Judai stated.

Judai's hand: 1

"It's my turn. You're going to witness a fresh new hell this turn," Titan said as his deck ejected another card into his hand. "I sacrifice my _Genocide-King Demon_…"

Titan's red-skinned monster disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Come forth, _Thunderclap Devil King – Skull Demon_!" Titan commanded, and a bolt of lightning descended, bringing with it a monster closely resembling _Demon's Summon_ as it let out a mighty roar, releasing electricity from its body. (6/2500/1200)

"Tear that eyesore of a monster apart, limb by limb!" Titan demanded. "_**Dohatsu! Ten-shogeki!**_"

With a mighty roar, the monster released a blast of lightning from its horn at _Flame Wingman_, destroying him in an instant and striking Judai.

Titan: 1900

Judai: 600

"_Aniki_!" Sho called out.

"Judai!" Hayato shouted.

'_That last one worked on me…_' Judai thought to himself, wincing in pain.

Titan chuckled as he raised his pyramid-like item, the eye shining once more.

"How's it feel? You've already spent up all of your body's energy, and you can't even stand up straight," Titan said as Judai's vision started to blur and the Osiris student fell to one knee, breathing heavily.

"Judai… _Judai… Judai!_" Hayato's voice called out, but sounding farther and farther away each time.

"Not good… I'm going down…" Judai quietly groaned before Titan lowered the pyramid and grinned in satisfaction.

"Judai, pull yourself together!" Hayato called out to his friend.

"_Aniki_!" Sho shouted.

'_So, fallen into the darkness, have you, Yuki Judai? You're going to cease your bodily functions all on your own and be reduced to a corpse!_' Titan said in his head.

Titan's hand: 5

* * *

"Then it's my turn now. Draw!" Hades said as he pulled his next card and grinned at it. "I'll start this turn by playing the Magic card, _Dual Summon_!"

As Hades played his card, the image showed a Spellcaster-type monster raising her staff as two bolts of lightning fell onto the field, one behind her and one in front of her, a monster within each.

"With this card I'm able to perform a normal-summon twice this turn. So I'll first summon my _Shadowknight Demon_ in Attack mode!" Hades announced as he played his card, calling forth a monster with long blue hair, wearing armor and wings as his right arm was replaced with a glowing red sword and his left arm was a large clawed hand. (4/2000/1600) "And next, I'll summon my _Mist Demon_ in Attack mode as well!"

The next monster to appear materialized from a blue mist, its body made of red muscle tissue with large arms. (5/2400/0)

"You cheat! You can't summon a Level-5 without tributing a monster!" Hikari shouted.

"Shut up, girl! _Mist Demon_'s Monster effect allows me to normal-summon him without a sacrifice, but in doing so he dies at my End Phase and costs me 1000 Life Points," Hades explained.

"Huh?" Hikari wondered. '_Then why would he summon it?_'

Hikari's eyes then widened in realization as she looked at Takeo's only monster, _Psycho Health Trancer_.

"_Mist Demon_, destroy his monster!" Hades commanded.

The mist-formed _Demon_ roared and charged at Takeo's monster.

"_Health__ Trancer_, counterattack!" Takeo shouted, to which the female monster lifted her arms and released a violent burst of psychic energy, but it was ineffective as the demonic monster impaled its claws through her stomach, causing her to scream in pain and explode, releasing an overflow of psychic power that also destroyed the _Mist Demon_.

"Now my _Shadowknight Demon_, attack him directly!" Hades demanded.

The sword-armed monster charged ahead and slashed at Takeo, but he just stood still and took the attack.

Hades: 3600

Takeo: 2500

"Huh? Why'd he only take 1000?" Hikari wondered.

"Because, unfortunately, any battle damage my _Shadowknight Demon_ inflicts in cut in half, so your friend here is lucky," Hades explained as his monster returned to his side of the field. "Turn end."

Hades' hand: 2

"You say I'm lucky? Sorry, but you're wrong there," Takeo said.

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" Hades asked.

"You'll find out as the duel progresses," Takeo said casually as he put his hand on his deck. "My turn. Draw."

"As the duel progresses?" Hades repeated while Takeo pulled his next card. "You really are a fool. In a few more turns you'll be swallowed up by the shadows."

"I summon _Genetic Woman_ in Defense mode!" Takeo said as he placed the card onto his Duel Disk.

The monster that materialized onto the field was a woman wearing a type of battle suit with a large green metallic claw over her right arm and a green gun on her left arm. Her head looked like that of a jaguar, possibly indicating she had been genetically engineered with the DNA of one. (4/1700/1200)

"Now I'll use her Monster effect! By paying 1000 Life Points I can add a Psychic-type monster that I removed from play back into my hand. So I'll bring back my _Psycho Commander_!" Takeo stated as he pulled the card out of his pocket while his Life Points dropped further.

Hades: 3600

Takeo: 1500

"I'll then place a reversed card to finish my turn," Takeo said as a facedown card appeared behind his monster.

Takeo's hand: 4

"My turn now. Draw!" Hades said as he pulled his next card and grinned. "You know kid, I'm feeling generous right now. So I'm going to give you some more cards by playing my Magic card, _Treasure From Heaven_!"

Hades played the card and as it appeared on the field, the artwork showed two men in armor using their helmets to catch coins falling from the sky.

"With this card we'll both draw until we hold six cards," Hades said as he drew four and Takeo drew two. "And now I'll summon my _Darkbishop Demon_ in Defense mode!"

As Hades played his next card, a _Demon_ wearing purple robes and carrying a staff with a skull on it appeared. (3/300/1400)

"With this monster on my field, whenever a "_Demon_" monster on my side of the field is targeted by one of your card effect, I get to roll a six-sided die. If it lands on a 1, 3, or 6 then your card's effect is negated and the card itself is destroyed," Hades explained.

"So it's a _Demon_ that protects other _Demon_ monsters," Hikari noted.

"Now I'll have my _Shadowknight Demon_ attack your _Genetic Woman_!" Hades commanded, to which the monster charged ahead and impaled its sword into the female monster and destroyed it. "My turn's done for now."

Hades' hand: 5

"Then it's my turn. Draw!" Takeo said as he pulled his next card, a shadow of a grin appearing on his face. "I play the Permanent Magic card, _Teleport_!"

As Takeo played his next card, it materialized onto the field showing _Power Injector_ fading away.

"With this card, if I don't control any monsters while my opponent does, I can pay 800 Life Points to special-summon any Psychic-type monster from my hand," Takeo explained.

"What are you doing? You're going to kill yourself you idiot!" Hikari shouted.

"I'll pay the 800 Life Points…" Takeos said, ignoring Hikari. "To special-summon my _Armored Psychicker_ in Attack mode!"

As Takeo summoned his monster, his Life Points dropped to dangerous levels while what appeared to be a heavily-armored man appeared onto the field. (6/2200/1800)

Hades: 3600

Takeo: 700

"Now, I _could_ attack your monster to deal some damage to you, however the effect of my own monster would then cause me to lose. So instead I'll continue with a normal-summon to call my _Cabalist_ to the field in Defense mode!" Takeo said as a miniature scientist wearing a strange metal helmet appeared (1/100/100) "And next, I'll play the Instant Magic card, _Emergency Teleport_!"

The next card to appear on the field show a _Mental Protector_ jumping out of a portal.

"With this card I can special-summon a Level-3 or lower Psychic-type monster from my hand or deck, but it has to be removed from play at my End Phase," Takeo said as he pulled another card from his hand. "I choose my Level-1 _Mental Master_ in Attack mode!"

As Takeo played his next card, a monster that looked more like a brain in a jar with hands appeared onto the field. (1/100/200)

"What's the use of putting that thing in Attack mode? If I kill it you'll lose the duel you know. And you're almost done as it is," Hades said as, to him and Hikari, Takeo's body had almost completely vanished.

"I'm not going to lose today," Takeo said with a smirk. "I'll tune my Level-6 _Armored Psychicker_ and my Level-1 _Cabalist_ with my Level-1 _Mental Master_!"

'_He can use more than two monsters for this?_' Hikari wondered in her head as Takeo's monsters flew into the air and changed into seven stars and a single disc.

"Telepathic waves, deceiving my foes. Mental scarring, ruin their minds. Complete and total domination of the mind," Takeo chanted as a burst of light engulfed the disc and stars. "Synchro-summon! _Mental Sphere Demon_!"

As the light faded, Takeo's own demonic monster appeared and landed beside him before letting out a mighty bellow. (8/2700/2300)

"Wh-What is that thing?" Hades shouted in shock.

"This is my own _Demon_, and I thought it would be fitting to have mine battle yours," Takeo answered with a smirk. "Now then, battle! _Mental Sphere Demon_, destroy his _Shadowknight Demon_!"

Before Takeo's monster attacked, however, the giant green monster looked at his master, who just nodded, before the _Demon_ flew towards the sword-armed _Demon_. _Mental Sphere Demon_ then thrust its left arm forward and impaled _Shadowknight Demon_, but instead of destroying it immediately, it continued forward until it struck Hades' chest.

Hades: 2900

Takeo: 700

"Now my _Mental Sphere Demon_'s effect activates," Takeo said as his monster returned to his side of the field. "When he successfully destroys an opponent's monster, my Life Points increase by the original ATK of the destroyed monster."

"What?" Hades shouted as Takeo's Life Points increased into a safer area.

Hades: 2900

Takeo: 2700

"And at my End Phase, I'll open my reversed card!" Takeo announced as his facedown card rose, the artwork showing a mechanical monster with a computer monitor for a face being put back together. "_Supernatural Healing_! This card can only be activated during my End Phase and increases my Life Points by 1000 for each Psychic-type monster that went to the Cemetery this turn. And for this turn I've sent three."

"3000 Life Points!" Hikari shouted.

Hades: 2900

Takeo: 5700

"Turn end," Takeo said with a grin.

Takeo's hand: 1

"But now your hand is almost empty," Hades said as he placed his hand on his deck. '_And if I get the right card I can put this brat out of his misery._' "My turn. Draw!"

Hades pulled the top card of his deck and when he looked at it he started to laugh.

"You're in for it now, kid! With this card your fate is sealed and you'll surely be swallowed by the darkness!" Hades shouted with laughter. "I'll summon _Warrior Of Zera_ in Attack mode!"

As Hades played the card, a non-_Demon_ monster appeared. In fact, it was a Warrior-type monster wearing green light armor and blue pants. Around his neck was a red scarf and he also wore a green helmet with horns. In his right hand was a sword with the crossguard looking like the face of a demonic creature. (4/1600/1600)

"_Warrior Of Zera_?" Hikari repeated, finding it odd that Hades, who used a _Demon_ deck, was using a Warrior, until she realized what was going on. "It's not a _Demon_ deck! It's a _Pandemonium_ deck!"

"Good observation, girlie. Now I'll use my _Warrior Of Zera_ as a sacrifice!" Hades said, to which his Warrior-type monster looked around the Field Magic in awe and slowly walked towards the pool of lava that sat at the center.

Letting his sword drop, the warrior stepped into the lava, but didn't feel pain. He soon let himself sink into the fiery liquid until he was gone. All of a sudden, a tower of molten lava shot upward from the pool.

"Now meet my most powerful monster! By offering _Warrior Of Zera_ as a sacrifice while _Pandemonium_ is on the field, I can special-summon _Devil Mazera_!"

The lava tower slowly died down, and hovering in the air above the pool was a demonic version of the warrior that had stepped within. His eyes had turned completely yellow and a long blue tail protruded from his backside. His hands had turned into claws as spiked jutted out of his elbows. His green armor had spread outward into wings and grown eyes at the chest and the horns from the helmet grew outward and curved. (8/2800/2300)

"And now for _Devil Mazera_'s Monster effect. When he's summoned my opponent has to discard three random cards from their hand. But since you only have one, I guess you'll be left without a hand!" Hades explained as _Mazera_ let out a roar that destroyed the only card in Takeo's hand, _Psycho Commander_.

Takeo's hand: 0

"Now _Mazera_, show him what a _true Demon_ can do!" Hades commanded.

_Devil Mazera_ complied by taking flight and flew towards Takeo's _Mental Sphere Demon_. The two monsters clashed in a power struggle and it looked like it could go either way until _Devil Mazera_ whipped his tail and smacked _Mental Sphere Demon_ just before throwing the Synchro Monster into the pool of lava below.

Hades: 2900

Takeo: 5600

"Turn end," Hades said with a smirk. '_And without a hand, he won't have any monsters to protect himself. All I have to do is attack him two more times with _Mazera_ and I can collect my pay._'

Hades' hand: 4

"It's my turn now. Draw!" Takeo said as he pulled his next card and looked at it. '_I can't play this._' "Turn end."

Takeo's hand: 1

"My turn. Draw," Hades said as he pulled his next card. "_Mazera_, attack my opponent directly!"

Once again, the demonic creature flew towards Takeo and slashed the Psycho Duelist with his claws.

Hades: 2900

Takeo: 2800

"Turn end," Hades said smugly, feeling his victory within his grasp.

Hades' hand: 5

* * *

As Judai collapsed, he soon found himself surrounded by darkness.

"_Kuri kuri!_" a familiar voice called out as Judai's deck started to shine brightly, and soon a small ball of light flew from his deck, the voice causing him to open his eyes and let his eyes follow the light, which was making the darkness around it disappear and allowing parts of the room to return to normal until the small orb stopped at Titan.

Judai then looked at himself and gasped in surprise before waking up back in the middle of the duel.

'_What's this? It's like the trouble I had breathing just went away…_' Judai thought to himself as he looked up at Titan. '_He and I have gone back to normal._'

The brunette Osiris then stood back up, noticing that his legs weren't feeling heavy anymore.

"Hayato, that guy's left arm is gone, right?" Judai asked.

"No, I think it's the opposite," Hayato answered.

"I see! So, that's it, huh?" Judai figured, but Sho and Hayato at looked at each other in confusion as Judai placed his hand on his deck. "My turn! Draw!"

'_Impossible. He's still willing to duel?_' Titan shouted in his head in shock as Judai pulled his next card.

As Judai's turn started, a glowing orb appeared on the head of _Dark Catapulter_.

"I activate _Dark Catapulter_'s special ability! By removing cards from the Cemetery for each turn this card's been in Defense mode, I can destroy the same number of Trap and Magic cards on the field!" Judai explained as his Cemetery slot started to glow. "I'll remove _Featherman_ from my Cemetery and destroy the Field Magic, _Pandemonium_!"

_Dark Catapulter_ readjusted its positioning as the rods sticking out of its back started to generate electricity. Suddenly, a large yellow orb of lightning formed between the two rods.

"**Volley Shoot!**" Judai commanded, to which the mechanical monster fired the orb at Titan, who raised his arm to block it, but the Field Magic slot of his armlet was struck.

The statues of _Pandemonium_ started to crack and crumble and soon the rest of the Field followed.

"Shit… Take a look at this!" Titan shouted as he lifted up the golden pyramid and the eye started to shine brightly once more.

"I'm making you check the card I removed!" Judai said as he threw his _Featherman_ card at Titan and it cut right into the eye of the pyramid.

"Shit!" Titan shouted in shock, and soon his body as well as Judai's returned to normal.

"_Aniki_'s body is back to normal!" Sho said happily.

"It's just like I thought. This guy's _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ is bogus!" Judai exclaimed, to which his two friends glanced towards Titan. "He's probably a magician or something, and we were all trapped under his hypnosis. Our bodies looking like they were vanishing wasn't real either. That's why we were all seeing mix-matched. There's probably a trick in that coat or that roulette of his!"

"What utter nonsense! I really play _Yami-no-G__ëmu_!" Titan argued.

"Then, you'll know this one for sure! The Millennium Item you have… How many of it are there?" Judai asked.

"You mean, the number of Millennium Items?" Titan asked as he looked down at the one he was holding.

"Answer me!" Judai said.

"It's… s-seven," Titan answered hesitantly, but soon grinned at Judai's surprised face. "Seven."

"He's right," Hayato confirmed.

"Well? Do you get it now? I'm a genuine player of the _Yami-no-G__ëmu_. I am one of the holders of the seven Millennium Puzzles existing in the world!" Titan shouted triumphantly as he raised his Millennium Puzzle into the air. "And my partner, who's currently taking care of your other friends, has the second!"

"Other friends?" Hayato repeated.

"He means Takeo and Hikari-_san_!" Sho gasped.

"That's too bad," Judai scoffed, earning Titan's attention. "You're right in there being seven Millennium Items, but that doesn't mean there's seven Millennium Puzzles! You've dug your own grave! You've confessed that you're a cheating scumbag! And if Takeo's fighting your partner right now, I'm sure he'll be just fine!"

* * *

"Hang in there, Takeo!" Hikari said.

"Shut up and go back to sleep!" Hades shouted at Hikari as he raised his golden pyramid, which he had put inside his coat, but gasped in shock when he saw the puncture marks in it. "What the hell? When did those get there?"

"When my _Mental Sphere Demon_ destroyed your _Shadowknight Demon_," Takeo answered with a quiet laugh.

"Tell me… Tell me why you're not in pain! You've already suffered more damage than any normal person could take! Why are you still standing?" Hades barked at his opponent.

"Because it's not real," Takeo answered with a smirk on his face.

"Not real?" Hikari repeated.

"He's an illusionist of some kind using the stories of the _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ for get-rich-quick schemes and killing his targets by making them believe they've been taken by the darkness and unable to use their senses and breathe. Eventually the body would shut down from the lack of air and the victim would die," Takeo explained.

"That's horrible!" Hikari shouted in shock.

"Damn you… How do you know that?" Hades demanded.

"Well you see…" Takeo started before turning his attention towards Hikari, to which the Light Angel duelist looked back at him, just for Takeo to send a small pulse of psychic power at Hikari to knock her out before turning his attention back to Hades. "I'm a Psycho Duelist."

"Psycho Duelist?" Hades repeated.

"That's right. I'm capable of doing many things with my mind, such as reading the thoughts of others. Yours was like an open book just waiting to be read. It also protected me from your little trick. Nothing is hidden from me," Takeo answered.

"Damn. I didn't sign up for this!" Hades shouted and tried to make a run for it, but soon found his feet were stuck to the floor. "What the hell!"

"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere. This duel is going to finish one way or another. And last time I check it was my turn. Draw," Takeo said as he pulled his next card. "I'll set one reversed card and end my turn."

Takeo's hand: 1

"D-Damn it. Draw!" Hades said, pulled his next card. "_Devil Mazera_! Attack him directly and put an end to this!"

The demonic monster took flight again and charged at Takeo, but the Psycho Duelist just smirked.

"Reverse card, open!" Takeo shouted as his facedown card rose, the image showing an Undead-type monster reviving what looked like an Undead version of _Demon's Summon_ and _Thunderclap Devil King – Skull Demon_. "_Surging Revival_! When my opponent makes a direct attack, I can select a Synchro Monster from my Cemetery whose Level is equal to or lower than that of the attacking monster. The damage I would receive is cut in half and my selected monster is resurrected."

Hades' eyes widened in shock as his own monster slashed at Takeo, but only dealt half the damage.

Hades: 2900

Takeo: 1400

"And the monster I choose is my _Mental Sphere Demon_! Return in Attack mode!" Takeo commanded as the ground shook and split apart, Takeo's demonic creature slowly rising from the ground before the hole closed itself. (8/2700/2300)

"T-Turn end!" Hades said. "But it doesn't matter if your monster's back! I'll just kill it again and then finish you off the following turn!"

Hades' hand: 6

"Sorry, but you're wrong there. Now I'll draw," Takeo said as he drew his next card. "I activate the Magic card, _Easy Tuning_! With this card, I remove a Tuner monster in my Cemetery from play to give its ATK to a monster on my field! And I'll choose to remove my _Psycho Commander_!"

"But how did that get back into your Cemetery?" Hades shouted, remembering that Takeo had removed it for the effect of _Psycho Health Trancer_.

"Because my _Genetic Woman_ returned it to my hand and then your own monster's effect sent it back there," Takeo explained, shocking Hades as the monster card ejected itself from Takeo's Duel Disk before he put it back into his pocket. "And now my _Mental Sphere Demon_ grows stronger!"

_Mental Sphere Demon_ was filled with a rush of power from the Magic card. (8/2700-4100/2300)

"Now show him your power! Destroy _Devil Mazera_!" Takeo commanded.

_Mental Sphere Demon_ took the opportunity and pleasure in getting revenge against the one that killed it. The Psychic-type _Demon_ flew forward and swiped at _Mazera_, sending the creature flying back. _Mental Sphere Demon_ then wrapped its tail around _Mazera_'s leg and pulled him back before slashing with his claws at full strength, shredding right through the _Devil_ monster and destroying it.

Hades: 1600

Takeo: 1400

And the effect of _Mental Sphere Demon_ restored Takeo's Life.

Hades: 1600

Takeo: 4200

"And I'll set one reversed card to end my turn," Takeo said as a facedown card appeared behind his monster.

Takeo's hand: 0

"Wait, why didn't your monster's ATK return to normal!" Hades asked.

"Because the effect of _Easy Tuning_ is permanent, so _Mental Sphere Demon_ keeps his power," Takeo answered as his monster bellowed.

"My turn. Draw!" Hades said as he pulled his next card. '_As long as I put monsters in Defense mode, he won't be able to beat me. I'd just have to find a way to kill that thing._' "I set a monster in Defense mode and end my turn!"

Hades' hand: 6

"My turn. Draw," Takeo said casually while drawing his next card. "And now the duel ends."

"Ends? But I still have three monsters on the field all in Defense mode! You can't touch me!" Hades argued.

"You're wrong. Reverse card, open!" Takeo announced as his facedown card slowly rose, the artwork showing _Krebons_ releasing a burst of electricity right in front of an opposing duelist. "_Battle Teleportation_! I can only activate this card while I control only one Psychic-type monster and this card allows that monster to bypass all of yours for a direct attack!"

Hades was shocked speechless by the effect of the card and would've made a run for it if his feet were stuck to the floor.

"I would mention the drawback to this card, but since this duel will end with my attack, it doesn't matter," Takeo said before placing two fingers on the _Mental Sphere Demon_ card on his Duel Disk for a split second. "_Mental Sphere Demon_! Finish this once and for all!"

The demonic monster bellowed loudly before teleporting in front of Hades. The monster then raised its arm and, with a mighty swing, struck the ground beneath him. At first Hades wondered why it didn't hit him, but soon noticed the ground was falling apart. The Field Magic quickly faded and the wood flooring underneath Hades crumbled, causing the _Yami-no-Duelist_ to fall to his demise as his monsters faded.

Hades: 0

Takeo: 4200 (winner)

"That takes care of that," Takeo said as his own cards faded and he walked up to Hikari. "I guess I should get you down."

Takeo walked away from Hikari only to come back with a stool. The Psycho Duelist got onto the stool and started to untie the rope from the blonde Obelisk's arms and legs and catching her before she hit the ground. He then slightly tapped her face until her eyes started to open.

"Awake again?" Takeo asked.

"Y-Yeah. What happened?" Hikari asked after Takeo let go of her.

"Seems he was still able to fool your mind and made you lose consciousness again," Takeo lied. "I beat him in the duel, but then the floor beneath him gave way and.."

Both duelists looked towards where Hades had been and saw the large hole in the floor.

"Is he…?" Hikari asked.

"It would appear so. Now let's get going," Takeo said as he headed back to the stairs leading to the lower floor.

"But what about Asuka-_san_?" Hikari asked.

"Judai and the others went looking for her," Takeo answered.

"Then we have to go make sure they're not hurt!" Hikari said before running ahead of Takeo.

The Psycho Duelist let out an irritated sigh before following after her.

* * *

"Since my trick won't work, it'd be pointless to keep dueling you!" Titan said as he threw something at the ground, causing smoke to surround him.

"I knew that Millennium Puzzle was fake! Hold it!" Judai shouted as he ran into the smoke after Titan, not noticing the nearby statues were starting to glow.

Once all the statues were aglow, beams of light shot from them and met in the center of the room.

"W-What's this?" Judai wondered, not seeing the glowing eye on the floor under him.

As Titan was walking away, he felt the ground start to shake and turned around just in time to see smoke start swirling around the room.

"W-What's this?" Sho wondered.

The smoke soon expanded, swallowing both Judai and Titan before condensing into a large dark sphere.

"_Aniki_!" Sho shouted.

"Asuka-_san_!" the two Osiris students heard someone call out and turned around to see Hikari and Takeo running into the room.

"Takeo! Hikari-_san_!" Sho and Hayato greeted.

"What happened here?" Takeo asked.

"_Aniki_ was about to win and proved this Titan guy that he was cheating, but then he tried to run off and then this thing appeared and took them both," Sho tried his best to explain.

"How can we get them out?" Hikari asked.

"We can't," Takeo answered, earning the attention of the four people.

"How do you know?" Hayato asked.

"It's just a feeling, but I think Judai has to get out on his own," Takeo said. '_And it's like my mind's saying this thing isn't even here. And if Judai and his opponent are inside it, I can't check what's going on._'

* * *

Inside the orb, Judai and Titan were surrounded by darkness.

"W-What is this?" Titan asked.

"You still won't give it up!" Judai argued.

"No! I haven't done anything!" Titan said.

But soon both duelists saw dark blobs fall from what would be the ceiling.

"W-What's that?" Judai wondered as the blobs started to change into strange creatures and they all converged on Titan, covering him in themselves.

"S-S-S-Stay back!" Titan shouted in fear. "Help me!"

But as Titan was shouting, some of the creatures jumped into his mouth.

"Hey!" Judai called out to his opponent and was about to run towards him, but then noticed the creatures were gathering around him as well.

"_Kuri kuri! Kuri!_" a familiar voice cooed, turning Judai's attention to his Duel Disk as _Winged Kuriboh_ managed to pry itself out of the device. "_Kuri kuri!_"

"_Winged Kuriboh_?" Judai asked, making sure he wasn't seeing things. "I get it! So, you're the one who saved me earlier?"

"_Kuri kuri!_" the winged furball replied before taking flight and flying down to the blob-like creatures and shooing them away.

"These things are afraid of _Winged Kuriboh_?" Judai wondered.

But soon all the creatures that were surrounding Titan seeped into his body.

"H-Hey! Are you okay?" Judai called out to the _Yami-no-Duelist_, but was surprised when Titan looked up as his eyes were glowing red.

"Well, Yuki Judai… why don't we carry on with the duel? With a real _Yami-no-G__ëmu_…" the possessed Titan said.

"You're still talking about that _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ stuff? For starters, weren't you just trying to run away?" Judai shouted.

"As soon as a _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ is activated, there's no escaping from here until the duel has an outcome," Titan said as the rest of the creatures backed away and both _Skull Demon_ and _Dark Catapulter_ reappeared.

"If that's your motivation, I'll follow along!" Judai said, still wanting to finish the duel. "We're still on my turn! I activate the Magic card, _Reincarnation Of The Dead_!"

The card Judai played didn't even closely resemble the image of _Resurrection Of The Dead_ and instead look more like some kind of feathered charm.

"I'll discard a card in my hand to add a Monster card in the Cemetery to my hand!" Judai explained as he put his last card into his Cemetery slot and another card ejected into his hand. "So I'll return _Sparkman_ to my hand, and then summon it in Defense mode!"

As Judai played his card, the electric hero returned to the field. (4/1600/1400)

"I'll finish my turn," Judai said.

Judai's hand: 0

"It's my turn. Draw," Titan said as a card ejected into his hand.

"_Pandemonium_'s effect is gone! That means the 500-point cost to keep _Skull Demon_ occurs!" Judai explained, to which a cloud of smoke spewed out of Titan's mouth.

Titan: 1400

Judai: 600

"_Skull Demon_, attack _Dark Catapulter_! **Furious! Imperial Shock!**" Titan commanded, to which his monster released a blast of lightning that destroyed the mechanical monster.

"What's going on?" Judai wondered as he braced himself from the attack. "He's completely different than he was just a little while ago!"

"I place one card facedown on the field, and then summon _Death-Rook Demon_ to finish my turn," Titan said as a creature that resembled a short demonic tower appeared in Attack mode while a reversed card appeared behind _Skull Demon_. (3/1100/1800)

Titan's hand: 4

"_Kuri kuri!_" _Winged Kuriboh_ screeched to Judai.

"'You've gotta win'? Of course: that's the plan!" Judai said as he pulled the top card of his deck. "My turn!" '_But my Life's at a slim 600. Next turn, if I don't fend off all of his attack, I'll lose._' "I switch _Sparkman_ to Attack mode!"

The electric hero soon rose to his feet ready for battle.

"Then, I'll equip it with the Equip Magic, _Spark Gun_!" Judai announced as his monster held out his right arm, a black pistol appearing in his hand. "This card changes the battle mode of a monster on the field! _Spark Gun_ had three bullets!"

_Sparkman_ raised the gun, cocking the hammer.

"And when all the bullets are used up, this card is destroyed!" Judai explained.

"If you change _Skull Demon_'s battle mode, its DEF is 1200. You could indeed destroy it, but I wonder if your effect will just slip by in the end," Titan said as the six orbs from his roulette floated into the air.

"No, I'm not going to attack _Skull Demon_. I attack _Death-Rook Demon_ with _Sparkman_! **Spark Flash!**" Judai declared, to which his hero monster lowered the gun and raised his left arm, releasing an electric blast at the demonic tower and destroyed it.

Titan: 900

Judai: 600

"Then, _Spark Gun_'s special ability activates! I'll switch _Sparkman_ to Defense mode!" Judai said, and instead of firing the gun at _Skull Demon_, the electric hero aimed and the ground and fired, forcing himself to crouch down.

Judai's hand: 0

"I see now… you're using it to protect yourself, huh? During your End Phase, I activate the Trap Card, _Engraved Seal Of Blood_!" Titan said as his facedown card rose, the image showing _Genocide-King Demon_ slashing at _Troop Commander_, destroying one of his swords and carving a gash into the Warrior-type monster, blood flying across the card before the card itself started to glow and a card ejected into Titan's hand. "And now, it's my turn. At this moment, due to the effect of the Permanent Trap, _Engraved Seal Of Blood_, the 500-point cost to keep _Skull Demon_ out is pulled from both of out Lives."

Titan: 400

Judai: 100

"My Life's down to just 100…" Judai said to himself as _Winged Kuriboh_ kept pushing the blob-like creatures away. "Don't worry, _Winged Kuriboh_. It doesn't mean I've given up yet!"

"_Skull Demon_, attack _Sparkman_! **Furious! Imperial Shock!**" Titan commanded and his monster obeyed, destroying _Sparkman_ with the very element the hero wielded. "Next, I place a card facedown, and then activate the Magic card, _Double Magic_. By discarding a Magic card from my hand, I can use one Magic card in my opponent's Cemetery. And the card I'm using from your Cemetery is _Emergency Provisions_."

As Titan put a Magic card into his Cemetery slot, Judai's own card magically appearing in Titan's hand.

"I destroy a facedown card on the field, and then recover 1000 Life Points," Titan said as his reversed card faded and Judai's card returned to his Cemetery.

Titan: 1400

Judai: 100

"You have no cards in your hand. Next turn, unless you defeat _Skull Demon_, _Engraved Seal Of Blood_'s effect will reduce your Life to 0. Your soul will be an offering to these demonic creatures," Titan stated, _Winged Kuriboh_ screeching as he kept pushing back the creatures.

Titan's hand: 2

"Yeah, I know that this match is all riding on this very draw!" Judai said to his Partner as he pulled the top card of his deck. "My turn! Draw! I special-summon _Elemental Hero Bubbleman_!"

As Judai played his card, a man wearing blue armor with a white cape on his back and what appeared to be a small cannon on his right wrist appeared onto the field. (4/800/1200)

"When this card is the only card in my hand, I can Special Summon it to the field! Then, when it's summoned successfully while there aren't any cards on my field, I can draw two cards from my deck!" Judai explained as he drew two more cards. "Then, I activate the Magic card, _Bubble Shuffle_!"

The card Judai showed had an artwork merely of hundreds of bubbles swirling around.

"It switches _Bubbleman_ and one of my opponent's monsters to Defense mode and, by offering _Bubbleman_ as a sacrifice, I can summon an "_Elemental Hero_" in my hand!" Judai explained.

"But _Skull Demon_'s special ability, its counter-effect, activates. If the Roulette lands on 1, 3, or 5, it will negates the effect and destroy it," Titan explained as the number 3 orb ignited and started to travel along the orbs.

"The odds are 1-in-2…" Judai told himself as the fire continued to go around until finally stopping on 2.

'_What?_' Titan shouted in his head, shocked that his Roulette failed.

"Looks like your luck's run out!" Judai said as both _Bubbleman_ and _Skull Demon_ knelt down. "Come forth, _Edgeman_!"

Soon, _Bubbleman_ vanished in a swirl of wind and was replaced by a hero covered from head to toe in gold heavy armor. (7/2600/1800)

"When _Edgeman_ attacks a defending monster, it can inflict damage to the opposing player equal to the amount it exceeded over its DEF!" Judai said, explaining his monster's effect. "Go, _Edgeman_! **Power-Edge Attack!**"

The gold-plated hero raised his arms as blades shot out of his forearms. He then flew towards the kneeling _Demon_ and slashed right through him. Moments later, the gashes started to appear on _Skull Demon_ before it shattered and exploded.

Titan: 0

Judai: 100 (winner)

Titan groaned in pain as the blob-like creatures scurried towards him.

"W-What are you doing?" Titan cried out as the creatures pilled on top of him. "Impossible! Are you telling me _Yami-no-G__ëmu_ really exist?"

"Wow, awesome! What in the world is happening?" Judai asked _Winged Kuriboh_, not knowing that Titan was being devoured alive.

"_Kuri kuri!_" the furball answered.

"Awesome…" Judai said, thinking that the whole thing was still a trick.

"_Kuri! Kuri kuri!_" _Winged Kuriboh_ squeaked as motioning towards a crack of light behind Judai.

"'Go that way'?" Judai asked as he turned around to see the light before running towards it with his Partner flying right beside him. "Got it! So, that's our exit!"

Judai continued to run with _Winged Kuriboh_ flying next to him while avoiding the blob creatures until the fell through the crack of light and falling onto the cold stone floor of the room where he and Titan started their duel.

"_Aniki_!" Sho called out as soon as Judai fell out.

"Judai!" Hayato called out as he, Sho, Takeo, and Hikari ran over to the brunette Osiris, earning Judai's attention.

"Are you guys all right?" Judai asked as he waved to his friends before noticing Takeo and Hikari. "Hey, you guys are okay. I figured you could handle Titan's partner."

"He was a pushover," Takeo said.

"Pushover? He knocked you down to 700 Life Points!" Hikari argued.

"_Kuri kuri!_" _Winged Kuriboh_ cooed, prompting Takeo's _Life Coordinator_ to appear from the Psycho Duelist's deck and started a conversation with the winged furball through garbled squeaks, though both managed to catch Hayato's attention.

"Those voices just now…" Hayato muttered, but then everyone noticed the dark orb Judai had fallen out of started to shrink.

"Everyone get down!" Takeo shouted before they all dove to the ground and, to no one's knowledge, Takeo used his psychic abilities to put up an invisible protective wall that shielded them from the following explosion.

"Asuka!" Judai called out as he used what strength he had to try keeping the coffin the Obelisk girl was in from being blasted away.

Once the dust settled, everyone slowly got back to their feet as Judai started clapping his hands.

"Ooh! I don't even know how he did _this_ trick!" Judai said in awe.

'_I thought I heard a couple of Duel Monsters voices just a second ago…_' Hayato thought to himself.

"_Aniki_, where did that guy go?" Sho asked.

"When he lost the duel, he high-tailed it out of there. Speaking of which, even though his last roulette was off, I really couldn't figure out that other trick, either," Judai said as he scratched his head.

"Well I think we'd better get out of here before the sun comes up or we might get in trouble," Takeo pointed out.

"Takeo has a point. And we have to wait for Asuka-_san_ to wake up, too," Hikari said.

"Then let's go," Judai said as he untied the rope from Asuka's wrists and ankles before pulling her out of the coffin.

With Judai carrying Asuka on his back, the students made their way out of the dorm. What they didn't know was Chronos had gone into he dorm.

"Yuki Judai and Ikeda Takeo should be smashed to bits by now," Chronos mused to himself as he walked through the dorm with a flashlight until he found himself in a destroyed room. "There is no one here. I bet those scoundrels failed me-_no ne_!"

Chronos walked further into the room and soon found a letter on the floor, which he picked up.

"'Bill of Receipt for Sir Chronos de Medici'," Chronos read before putting the letter into his pocket. "I haven't paid, but I should take this with me. _All'arrabbiata…_"

Chronos then made his way out of the broken-down dorm.

* * *

Outside of the dorm, the students had found a small clearing to sit Asuka down until she woke up, which luckily didn't take very long as the Obelisk girl slowly opened her eyes.

"Oh, so you've come to?" Judai asked.

"Are you okay, Asuka-_san_?" Hikari asked.

"What are you guys doing here?" Asuka asked back.

"We're sorry that you were given such a hard time, but don't worry about it! Asuka, the guy who assaulted you already ran away," Judai answered.

"Then, you guys…"

"I was knocked out, too. But Takeo beat the guy who took me," Hikari said.

"Speaking of, you might want this back," Takeo said as he handed Hikari the card he found on his way to the attic.

"Oh, thank you," Hikari said as she took her card.

"Here… and here…" Judai said as he handed Asuka her card and the picture he found on the wall.

"_Nii-san_!" Asuka said in surprise as her eyes widened. "It's unmistakable! This is my brother's signature! My _nii-san_ always wrote the "Ten" in "Tenjoin" like this as a play on words."

"_Gomen_, but these were the only clues we could find," Judai apologized. "After hearing about your brother, I thought 'I wonder if I could help her out a little bit.'"

"Then, that's why you purposely…?" Asuka started to ask out of surprise, but was cut off by the rising sun.

"Crap! Hey, let's get back before everyone wakes up!" Judai said as he jumped to his feet.

"Asuka-_san_," Sho bowed as he stood up.

"Well, then," Hayato waved.

"See you around," Judai said as he and his two roommates ran off towards the Osiris dorm.

"Hey, Hikari," Takeo said, earning the Obelisk girl's attention. "Try to keep yourself out of trouble. I don't want to have to keep coming to help you all the time."

Takeo then took off, following after the other three Osiris students.

'_Thank you, Takeo…_' Hikari said in her head.

'_Yuki Judai…_' Asuka thought to herself before looking at the picture of her brother. '_You busybody…_'

The two Obelisk girls then turned around and walked towards the Obelisk dorms.

* * *

**A/N: And there is your entertainment for the night, including the death of a character, even if they were unimportant. Now if you'll excuse me *grabs a bloody scythe and pulls a hood over my face* it's time to go collect more souls. *walks out***

**Next time: Someone had ratted out that the Osiris boys have been in the Abandoned Dorm and a Punishment Duel is being set up with Judai and Sho being teamed together while Takeo is left to fend for himself. Sho's confidence wavers so Judai duels to see what his little brother is capable of. Can the students boost Sho's self-esteem or will the Tag Team wind up in trouble? Stay tuned.**

**Please R&R, everyone!**


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